On the way to Jerusalem to suffer and die Jesus fielded a question. An onlooker asked Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved” (Luke 13:22)? Typical of Jesus He didn’t give a direct answer. Instead, He answered the larger question at hand, and challenged his listeners to look inward and find out where they stood in relation to “being saved.”

The issue is not how many or how few are “being saved,” but where does each of us stand in relation to the One who saves. How many or how few is beyond the scope of our authority. Only God can save. Therefore, Jesus poignantly speaks to the human heart when He says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:25).

His call to strive catches us off guard a bit, doesn’t it? After all isn’t grace free? Isn’t mercy free? What does strive have to do with what is free? It is an intriguing thought isn’t it but, perhaps, Jesus is calling us not to be so overly preoccupied with what is or isn’t happening in the lives of others and, instead, is calling us to “work out…our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

Maybe it is when we are so mesmerized by the Lord God ourselves and so enthralled by His life that the head count doesn’t really matter, that we are most in tune with the One who saves. The issue before us is to truly live before God, not in vocabulary and religious expression, but really, truly, live in the very life of God.

We might be surprised when we get to heaven to see who is there and who is not. After all, Jesus said, “Some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last” (Luke 13:30). I’m not sure what this means but it takes me back to His call to strive. This Christian life is serious business.