Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’" Luke 13:23-27 I know next to nothing about Greek, but as I’ve been reading the New Testament, I’ve noticed that the phrase “make every effort” is used repeatedly by Jesus, Paul, and Peter. Thanks to a sermon by Francis Chan, I learned that this phrase in the Greek is “agonizomai” which means, "to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive” or, as Francis Chan said, “to agonize over.” In other words, it really does mean to make every effort. What does it look like to make every effort, then? I think of it like running a race. When you’re running, you’re going to make sure every step you take is equally as effortful as the last. Successful runners won’t give themselves breaks and say, “I’ll run really fast for a couple minutes, then I’ll walk for bit.” They learn to keep an even, steady pace in which each stride is as fast as the last. So apply that to what Jesus is saying in Luke 13, and it sounds like we need to be constantly working to enter through that narrow door. There are no breaks in Christianity. Agonizomai does not look like reading the Bible whenever we have free time, or praying when we want something. Agonizomai looks like putting aside as much time as we possibly can to know God, so that at the end of our lives He won’t say to us, “I don’t know you or where you come from.” It looks like agonizing over how we can make sure each time we come into God’s presence, we are really working to get close to Him—how we can lean into God as much as we can in every moment. Here are a couple other instances where agonizomai is used: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.” 2 Peter 1:5-9 “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” 2 Peter 3:13-14 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 14:19 “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:9-11 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3 So, in accordance with the above verses, here’s a list of things the Bible is saying we should agonize over:
There’s so much here that’d I’d love to discuss more, and I will in future posts, but for now I see it unnecessary. The Bible is always sufficient. Reader, I ask that you would go back and reread those verses. Really pray and meditate over what applying that agonizing effort to your life would look like. Do you feel like you’re already striving to do those things with every effort in you? If not, what can you do to change that?
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AuthorFighting complacency and advocating change in myself for the world around me. Posts by Date
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