I know in the Bible if say many shall seek but only a few shall find then it says to strive. So what’s the difference between seeking and striving? What’s the definition Bible-wise. Can give me an example? And the example can be about anything between a seeking person and striving. I ask because a few and many is a serious matter so I want to know the difference between the few and the many.<\/p>\n\t
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it<\/em>” (Matthew 7:13-14).<\/p>\n
“Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able<\/em>” (Luke 13:23-24).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Greek word\u00a0agonizomai<\/em>\u00a0is translated as strive. It is mainly a word describing an athletic contest. It refers to the competition and drive to succeed. Paul talked about it in more detail when he said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified<\/em>” (I Corinthians 9:24-27). The point is that you can’t just drift into heaven. It takes effort to get there — lots of effort.<\/p>\n
Seek translates the Greek word\u00a0zeteo<\/em>. It means to look around, to look for something, or to desire to have something. In this particular context, Jesus is saying that many people will look for heaven, but since they don’t put much effort into it, they just never manage to find it.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I know in the Bible if say many shall seek but only a few shall find then it says to strive. So what’s the difference between seeking and striving? What’s the definition Bible-wise. Can give me an example? And the example can be about anything between a seeking person and striving. I ask because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[498,46,47,76],"class_list":["post-39454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-effort","tag-heaven","tag-salvation","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-warnings-about-believing-you-are-the-only-denomination-going-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":0},"title":"Are there warnings about believing you are the only denomination going to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some church denominations say, \"We are right and all other churches are wrong\" (concerning Bible interpretations). Or they say, \"We are going to Heaven. All other denominations are not.\" Do the Scriptures give any warnings or guidelines about this \"attitude\" held by certain groups? Thank you! Answer: Behind this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-it-seem-that-there-isnt-that-much-difference-between-the-christian-church-and-the-churches-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":1},"title":"Why does it seem that there isn’t that much difference between the Christian Church and the churches of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, When I was 15, I was baptized in a church of Christ. Originally the church had been non-instrumental but later used an organ and piano. The minister was also a professor of Greek at a nearby college. If the Christian Church has so many differences, as is indicated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-narrow-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":2},"title":"The Narrow Way","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/narrow-cave-300x225.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mormons-believe-almost-everyone-will-go-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":3},"title":"Mormons believe almost everyone will go to heaven","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Before talking down my religion you should make sure you understand it! Mormons believe that almost everyone will go to heaven. We believe that the amount of people who go to outer darkness is so small that it is barely even considered a kingdom. \u00a0 Answer: \"Enter by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53880,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-are-going-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":4},"title":"How many are going to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How many are going to heaven? Answer: We don't know how many there will be. There is no upper limit on how many heaven could hold. Descriptions of heaven tell us that there will be a great multitude of all who followed God through the ages. \"After these things\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-souls-will-fit-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":39454,"position":5},"title":"How many souls will fit in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Answer: All who are going. In describing those in heaven, John said, \"Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands\" (Revelations 5:11). John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}