¨But woe to you, hypocrite scribes and Pharisees, because you lock the Reign of heaven in men´s faces; for you do not go in yourselves and neither do you let those go in who are going in.¨ Matthew 23:13 (Byington)
Jesus spoke much about the reign of heaven or the kingdom. It seems a point of urgency for Him that colors the rest of His teachings. It is always there shining for Him as our intended state and destiny. He wanted us to know the importance of it and wanted us to throw off anything that would prevent ourselves from entering into it.
Our Savior spoke out harsh words for those who did not place the proper importance on the dwelling place of His Father, and here in Matthew 23 He could not hold back His disapproval of those who would shut the door of that place so that others might not make it there either.
Hopefully it is understood that nobody who does not truly want to be in the presence of the Lord will be forced into it. Those who really want something, do what is necessary to obtain it. If something is important enough, then the interested party concerns themselves with finding a way to assure success in getting their goal.
In the case of the Christian, this goal may mean listening sufficiently to the Christ´s instruction then taking it seriously enough to carry out the things Jesus says are crucial to securing our goal in the end. Contrary to certain beliefs, Jesus did not make it a question of doing the correct things on our part, but by turning our hearts from serving ourselves and seeking out our Savior. It means vacating a place in the center core of our being so that there is room for His Spirit to come in and live without rival in our hearts.
To reach the place where we enter into the Heavenly Realms, our entire hearts need to go out to our God without reserve. All we are and all we stand for need to be His in every sense of the word. One may say that God will forgive our short-comings and this is true, but one cannot stand on this truth because in excusing ourselves we withhold part of our heart. The nature of the fallen man will not let us save parts of our soul to pursue lower interests. How can we think that all of heaven and the great Presence will be ours for the having when we were not concerned enough to dedicate every last interest unto Him?
If Jesus has said something once, we should listen. If He repeats a teaching a second time then we should stop what we are doing and examine it thoroughly. In Jesus´ teachings He never accepted people giving less than their whole heart. God and Heaven were always to be made bigger, more important and worth more to us. He was sad to find people who took away the power and glory of His Father who is without limits and infinitely more precious.
Therefore we should be on our guard against anyone who would lower the prize after which we seek. If someone from our church, a friend or even a family member makes less the goal we seek, then they are standing in our way. Worse still is if we, by word or deed, remove the importance of God or heaven before another child of the Lord, we stand in the shoes of the scribes and the Pharisees.
Dear Jesus, we have heard you speaking of a wonderful place. That You spoke of it and directed us unto it shows us of the importance that it should hold for us. You urge and You plead, You left Your throne and subjected Yourself to walk and live as we do. You went so far as to suffer and die to assure our part in that place of which You spoke. Now let us make that place our quest. Let us neither sleep nor rest until our entire being strains and yearns to be there with You. Take our hands as we give You our whole heart, then lead us into Your Way. Do not let Your words of woe to include us nor let another lose their part in Your kingdom because of us. Rather teach us to lift You up always higher and higher and point all those around unto You.
Amen and amen
Searching For Christ 
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