Luke 13.23-27 asks, Master, will only a few be saved?” He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on My guest list.’ “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known You all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with His abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about Me. MSG

God is given the best possible question for telling us His heart, His future plans for humanity, His purpose for His work on earth. Will only a few be saved? Almost the entire church would answer, NO! Most of the church and the rest of humanity would answer, everyone will be saved because God is love. Yet that is NOT how God answers the question.

O church, how few of you are truly in the Kingdom. So many believe but so few follow. The way is narrow and difficult the path that leads to life and few are those upon it. The following of Jesus is vigorous and requires our total attention He says. Doesn’t it make sense that God would require our best effort for Him since He is the greatest of all?

What does it mean to vigorously pursue God? Daily engagement with God through His Word and prayer to start! How can we possibly say we are following Jesus when we are not looking for Him in His Word or listening to His voice speak through His Word? If daily bible reading and prayer are not joyful habits of our lives can we possibly say we are His disciples? But we say we know Him? Really?

Is that knowledge similar to that of a frequent face you say hello to at church or the office but of whom you truly know nothing? Can you name this person’s children? Favorite hobby or color? Know his passions and pains? Heard his stories and seen his scars from life? This kind of knowledge takes a relationship which takes time talking, doing, and sharing life.

This is the knowledge Jesus requires of His disciples, wants as our Father, and expects of His family. But it is more. The knowledge God requires is full of faith because it is based on experience. The experience of doing God’s work with Him, seeing Him, trusting Him, to provide, to protect, and to be present as we risk all to serve Him.

This is the experiential knowledge God requires from those who enter His banquet hall as His guests with whom He celebrates their participation with Him in the building of His kingdom. Faith is developed in an intimate relationship with God where He is trusted and obeyed and found to be true to His Word.

We do not know Jesus because we know His Name and sing some of His songs, like we know our favorite music group. We know Him when we spend time with Him listening, talking, and working together, participating with Him in this life of seeing His kingdom come and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.