The Fields of God

Though the entrance into the wide-open fields of God’s love is narrow, once you have opened that gate and walked through, it leads to the broadest place to live—in the realm of unconditional love. Yet many today have sought to enter through a different door which Christ warns us about. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:14).  One of the mass appeals of the wide path is it’s seeming tolerance of all faiths, but there in lies the deception of half-truths.

This back door of spirituality, which incorporates many gods, philosophies and “New Age” thinking appears to lead to the most inclusive arena, but it is very deceptive. In attempting to validate all manner of “positive energy” and belief systems, in it’s very essence it negates itself. Either Mohammad, Buddha, Krishna or Jesus is “the way the truth and the life.” They cannot be all right because they hold to very different ideologies. Jesus declares, “I Am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but by me (John 14:6). That is not an inclusive statement, but one that is issued to the whole earth, for all people-white, black, red, yellow and all shades of brown. One cannot, with intellectual integrity ignore this and believe that all paths lead to God and ultimately eternal life. It is obvious from what Jesus tells us that the path of destruction is wide and many are led down it’s winding convoluted thinking. Scores of people think whatever they want and never examine the holes in their theories.

On the flip side, God’s plan has no holes. It is very clear that God sent His son Jesus to overcome death and lead the way to eternal life. “For my Father’s will is that everyone looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).  Yet Jesus knew it would be hard to find the door to Him and walk through it because it requires death to our own selfish ways, not a popular notion. Though many mysteries and seemingly incongruous statements sprinkle the Word of God, when examined carefully in study and tested by leading the life that Christ beckons us to enter, the elusive inconsistencies come into sharp focus, such as a narrow gate leading to a broad arena.

Though the gate is narrow (Jesus is the only, true gatekeeper), it leads to both abundant living in Christ and eternal life. He warns us not to be misled by the plea of the broad path with its cunning deceptions that appeal to our own selfish motives cloaked in humanity.  It takes effort to believe in something we cannot see, taste or touch, or fully intellectualize, but can certainly experience. Since knowing Jesus as My Savior, I have climbed with Him  on many rocky roads. Mountains have loomed before me, as well as valleys and ravines, which I’m fairly certain you have encountered also. At times the path nearly disappeared and lead to a bramble infested thicket where doubts and fears strained to rob me of my sight. But as I continued to walk and follow the path of Christ, it led to the most glorious field of lilies, jonquils, fragrant roses, myrrh and aloe—the pathways to God.

Healing flows from these flowers and herbs, filling you with a joy that defies circumstances. It glows from the life of the saints in Christ, anyone who is a true believer. Ripe apples, pears, berries and nuts become one’s food to delight in as Christ uses us to feed a hungry world. And then we come into an even more amazing place on earth: a golden field filled with all the fragrances of love—peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, forgiveness, perseverance, and unspeakable joy. It is a glorious field ripe with every good thing imaginable. It is the broadest plain of agape love spanning the horizon. It is a land of unconditional love and forgiveness, humility and servanthood, which eventually leads to heaven. The way may be narrow, the climb steep, the road rocky and the ravines deep, but it is worth it for the panoramic view at the end—heaven!