I am working on an Exegesis of the second half of Ephesians 5. It's fun, and I really enjoy being intimately connected to a passage for a while so that the meaning can sink in and you can hold it up to the light of daily life, other reading, other scripture. It gets under your skin. .... I think this must be what its like to be a pastor getting ready for a Sunday sermon. I like it!
the passage itself is a challenging one, having been misinterpreted and misquoted and misunderstood a lot. Its the one about wives and husbands and submission and love. It's about a lot more, but that's the basic premise.
Anyway, I got to thinking about another passage that is often misrepresented - the one about the narrow gate leading to life and the broad road leading to destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14) Lots of times, people confuse this verse as having something to do with heaven and hell. It's actually part of the Sermon on the Mount, and its about how we live here on earth - its about belonging to the kingdom of the real king, and not being fooled by other kings/kingdoms.
I internalized the narrow gate verses this way...
'there are at least 894,150 ways to miss the point. We will exercise all of them, because they look easy and painless. But it'll be painful and costly. Those few who truly get it will have a different kind of experience (not an easier one) - but they're the minority.' This is just amateur babbling.... and a prayer that I can stop missing the point.
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