Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Matthew 7:14

“Time to Go!”

We are late…

My three year-old granddaughter doesn’t care.

Her one year-old brother is sleeping in his car seat…

My wife waits with him in the car…

My granddaughter and I wander somewhere between the family room and the garage.

“Time to go,” I say again.

She walks slowly, her head down, focused on the toy she holds in her hands as she pushes its buttons, and listens to its music.

It plays a song she has heard many times.

She stops and laughs as if she is hearing it for the first time.

“Time to go,” I say, reaching for her hand.

Too late.

She sees the cat…

She bends down and pets the cat…

We are meeting her parents in a parking lot halfway between our house and their house for a “kid exchange”.

My daughter will be wondering why we’re late…

Finally we reach the garage.

Walking to the back of the car, my granddaughter looks out at the bright sunshine.

“Let’s walk,” she says.

“It’s ten miles,” I answer. “We need the car.”

“Ten’s not far,” she says….

And counts to ten…

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”

“I can walk to ten,” she says with ironclad three year-old certainty.

We continue our philosophical discussion about the distance to “ten” while I put her in her car seat.

She is so certain she can find her own way to her mama.

So certain she has plenty of time…

How often have I been like her?

Certain that I have plenty of time to get ready…

 ….the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  1 Thessalonians 5:2 

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  Matthew 24:44

Foolishly thinking I can count the things I must do to find Him…

…by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Certain that the way to God is broad and easy…

narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Matthew 7:14

Narrow is the gate …

But thanks to God’s grace…

It stands open for us all.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16