Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Growing up as a country girl, I learned that when I opened a gate and walked through, I needed to immediately close the gate. Most farm animals are basically just waiting patiently to make a jailbreak. You might think they’re just minding their own business, chewing their cud, scratching on the side of the barn, or grazing, but they’re actually scoping out the joint. Several years ago, one of us didn’t chain the gate properly and our horses escaped. They didn’t go far, but they went far enough. They moseyed down the lane, looked both ways and crossed the highway, then went calling on the neighbor horses. Gates are extremely important to the owners of sneaky, conniving farm animals. When given half a chance, they’ll bust out of jail every time.

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks candidly about two different gates. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it” (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT). Everyone has been given the right to make their own choices, aka free will. Jesus knows mankind’s  tendency and He solemnly declared that few would choose the narrow gate that leads to an abundant life here and eternal life in heaven. When individuals choose the wide gate, they’re forfeiting Jesus’ gift of eternal life and taking Broadway Street to Hell.

In certain situations, I‘ve been known to say, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” This colloquialism means there’s multiple ways to accomplish a task or achieve the same end. (For cat lovers, this saying is referring to skinning a catfish.) For example, you  can skin a catfish either before or after you fillet it.

Some individuals say, “There’s more than one way to get to heaven.” Nope. Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me“ (John 14:6 NLT). There are two gates to choose from when entering either the Highway to Heaven or the Highway to Hell. The battle between right (Good Gate) and wrong (Evil Gate) has been going on since the Garden of Eden.

While standing at the Narrow and Wide Gates deciding which one to enter, it would be good to sit down and count the cost of choosing poorly. Jesus paid the entry fee for everyone to enter the Narrow Gate. The difficult way of this gate is definitely the road less traveled, but it’s certainly worth it. Jesus spoke encouraging words to His disciples, and the same message is for Christ followers today: “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in Me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in Me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33 TPT).

After wisely choosing the narrow gate, life continues to be full of daily choices. We can choose to walk in holiness or selfishness, wisdom or folly, integrity or deceitfulness, love or hatred. The Holy Spirit lives inside believers to help us make right decisions. So we must learn to listen to Him so we won‘t make foolish choices.

The Key: When you come to the end of your journey, you won’t be sorry you chose the narrow

She graduated from seminary with a Master of Theology degree and became a well-known, Christian speaker.  I met Lucinda about twenty years ago when she welcomed me into her home and church where her husband pastored.  Sixteen years before that, while speaking at a ladies’ retreat, Lucinda was asked to pray for the pastor’s wife who was in the hospital, dying of cancer.  When she met the frail woman, Lucinda asked how she could pray specifically for her needs.

“Pray for my husband to meet and marry a follower of Jesus who will be a good mother to my two children, especially Justin, our six-year-old, special needs son.”  Lucinda’s heart broke for this precious woman who died a few days later.  She continued to pray as the woman had directed.

Two years later, my friend was at a Christian event when she was introduced to a young pastor.  Within a few months, they began dating, and Lucinda met his children, one, an eight-year-old, autistic boy. God had orchestrated a meeting between Lucinda and this man, the husband of the dying woman Lucinda had prayed for.  Little did she know, she would become that man’s wife and mother of his children.

As a guest in Lucinda’s home, I met her son, Justin, who had just returned with a gold medal from the Special Olympics’ tennis competition.  Following dinner, Justin announced that it was his turn to wash the dishes.  I asked if I could dry.  “Probably not,” he said.  “You probably won’t do it right.”  I cracked up, but Lucinda lovingly told him that his criticism was not warranted and he should give me a chance.  Which he did.  I immediately learned that Justin had a very specific way to handle dish-drying.  I never knew that that task could be so ardeous.

Lucinda died a few months ago, an unexpected cancer diagnosis that came just as she was finishing her book 52 Blessings for Women.  Her devotional is for women who are “weary and wandering, disheartened and discouraged, stressed and searching” (basically, every woman I know). Little did she know, she would be asked to endure the very thing other women were enduring in hopes her words would be a blessing to them.

A few weeks ago, Janet, an author and close friend of Lucinda, asked fellow writers to help spread the message of Lucinda’s soon-to-be-published book.  Would we be willing to read it and share its message with others?  I signed on, and yesterday, my friend’s devotional was delivered to my home.  The last sentence of her introduction is the perfect picture of Lucinda’s life.  “Lucinda was always the first to offer an encouraging word, and it was her mission to communicate God’s faithfulness, extend His grace, and encourage others to trust him fully.”

And now, through her death, she is able to do just that as she wrote for us all to be a blessing to others…not in a fake sort of way, but to truly lean into the hearts of those we encounter, to encourage them to be an encouragement as a tangible way to show love and compassion.

Although Lucinda never got to see the fruits of her newest writing labors on earth, I’m sure she is seeing them through eternal eyes.  Thank you, Lucinda, for inspiring so many of us to do better.