walking in step with jesus

Day Three:  Walking INSTEP with Jesus by Maggie Venn

Pray:  Jesus, I ask that you show me something personal in my study today.  I want to hear you speak directly to me about my life and what you have for me.  I believe that you speak to those who believe in you and have a relationship with you.  So, today, I open my heart, ears and eyes to your will.  Speak to me, Lord!

I am sharing verses from New Living Translation and New King James Version in this study but, feel free to read from which ever translation you are most comfortable.  It might be useful to have a notebook handy to jot your thoughts and answer some questions listed below.

Read:  Luke 13:22-24 (NKJV):
22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Luke 11:9-10 (NLT):
9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Study:  Make every effort!  If you expected to make every effort at your job or make every effort to care for your family, what would that look like?

Are you pursuing your relationship with God with the same gusto?  Are you making every effort to know him?  ...to live the way He wants you to live?  ...to do what He wants you to do?

Write your thoughts down in your notebook.

Another translation says, “strive to enter the narrow door.”  The word “strive” means:

1.  to make oneself vigorously; try hard
2.  to make strenuous efforts toward any goal
3.  to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete
4.  to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance

There seem to be many things in life that we are striving to attain:  financial security, physical beauty or health, friendship, success, well-rounded family, etc…  Many of these are good aspirations but are they priority over striving to enter through the narrow door to be saved?

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Again, meditate on this and write down your thoughts.

The “narrow way” in this passage could be described as “walking closely to Jesus…yielding your life to the life He has for you…liveing a life that is in line with the teachings of Jesus.”  However, the “narrow way” most likely looks different for each one of us.  Jesus knows your heart and He knows your future and He has a narrow way that has been designed step-by-step just for you. 

So how do we find out what our specific “narrow way” is?  In the second passage of this study, Luke 11:9-10, we are encouraged to “keep asking…seeking…knocking.”  Next, we are told that if we continue to do this or “strive” to do this or “make every effort” to do this, then “everyone who asks, receives.”  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”  So, go ahead.  Ask Jesus, and keep on asking, what your narrow road is.  He will show it to you.  It is not a secret.  God’s plan for your life is not a secret.  But you must spend time with Him and listen to Him.  God usually gives us the plan during the journey - day by day…mission by mission…step by step.  This is why we are to maintain a close and intimate relationship with Him each and every day.  We all know that it takes to to make a relationship successful.  We need to be close to Him, to spend time with Him, to seek Him in order to hear what He wants us to do in that very moment.  This is how we walk INSTEP with Him. 

Apply:  Ask God, “What is my narrow road today?”  Write down what He tells you.

Then keep asking Him every day.
Psalm 119:1-8 (The Message):
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
3 They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.
5 Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.
7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!