During the gold rush of the 1800s a man named Darby and his uncle went to Colorado to find gold. They staked their claim and began to dig with pick and shovel. They soon discovered a vein of gold and were very confident they would become rich. So they covered up their find and went back home to family and friends and borrowed enough money to buy the equipment needed to properly mine the gold. Upon returning they recovered more and more gold.
They sent a few carts of ore to the smelter and just knew they would be rich. They now only needed a few more carts of ore to pay back all their debt. But suddenly the gold vein disappeared. They drilled and drilled for several more months but found no more gold.
Finally, they gave up and stopped searching for any more gold and sold their equipment to a junk dealer for a few hundred dollars. The junk dealer sought out advice from a mining engineer and resumed the drilling. He discovered one of the richest veins of gold ever found only three feet from where Darby and his uncle stopped drilling.
Sometimes humans who call themselves Christians are only three feet from eternal life, only to give up or fail to enter since the walk is often difficult because of the hardship of overcoming, bearing their own cross, suffering rejection of family and friends or just being unwilling to give up their favorite idol or sin.
Luke 13:24 says “Strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.”
“Strive” means to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary) or generally (to endeavor to accomplish something): “fight, labor fervently, strive.”
For more on how you could be three feet away from eternity and miss it, listen to The Great Deception on the Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}
