Have you ever faced the impossible?

I'm not talking about the way we use the word "impossible" to talk about really tough things. I really mean impossible. Have you ever faced a task so insurmountable, some problem so thorny or complicated, that it's impossible for you to do?

God thinks it's pretty important for us to face the impossible. So he makes it impossible for us to come to him.

Wait. What?

Jesus said it himself, "Many will try to enter eternal life, but few will make it." (Check out Luke 13 for the whole thing.) Why would Jesus say that? Why would he tell us that you can try treally hard to enter eternal life but you probably won't make it? It's a bit like a teacher handing out a test saying, "Well, you can try your hardest, but probably only one of you will pass this test." Then why bother, right? 

Right! Why bother. Jesus wants us to know a very important limitation we have: we can't get ourselves to heaven. We can't come to him. He must come to us. 

We have a nasty habit of being rather selective with what our relationship with Jesus should look like. And we hate hearing Jesus tell us that it involves self-sacrifice, self-deinal, or pain and trouble. So we avoid those things and pretent that we have an actual relationship with Jesus.

Until that day when we find out we don't, but then it's too late. The gates of hell close around us and we're lost forever. 

But if we accept that we cannot do anything on our own, if we fall at the mercy of God, then what was impossible for us to do happens. Jesus said it himself, "With man, this is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible."

So give up on trying to impress God. Give up making excuses to God for your poor spiritual life. Instead, accept the impossible task for what it is. And grab hold of what your Savior has already done for you. Grab hold of his life. Grab hold of his work which forgives your sins. Grab hold of the cross. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.