Doors (Revelation 3:20)

November 8, 2020 

Doors 

Revelation 3:20 (ESV) -  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

The word “Doors” can mean different things.  Doors are meant to keep things out and they are meant to keep things in.  Some are actual real doors with hinges and door knobs.  Others are not physical doors, but doors to our emotions and feelings.  

We fling open physical doors to our family and our friends and invite them in.  We carefully open those same doors to strangers standing on the porch to see what they want or need.  We lock our doors when there is a possibility of trouble or at night to get a peaceful sleep.  

Each one of us have individual emotional and mindful doors. Often times we close doors when do not want to deal with an issue or a problem.  It’s easier to leave it on the other side of the door and not deal with it.  When we lose someone through relationship issues, have financial trouble, have health issues, or when we deal with actual death, we sometimes close those doors because the pain is too bearable to face. 

We have both physical and emotional doors that we hide things behind.  I have closet doors that hide stuff I have accumulated for decades.  I am ashamed for anyone to see all the stuff in those closets.  I have emotional doors that I am ashamed of.  The Lord knows the things hidden behind my emotional doors.

Many times in scripture we hear verses about Jesus knocking on the door and our response to open the door to Him is up to us.  We hear about the Bridegroom coming to the wedding, someone opens the door to Him and after he has entered, the door is then closed. Those who were invited to the wedding are on the inside while many others are left on the outside.  Those on the outside either did not respond to the RSVP for the wedding invitation or they decided the wedding was not important enough to attend. Regardless, they are on the outside of the closed door.

We also have scripture where the Lord asks us to go into our prayer closet to pray and to close the door.  These are the times when the Lord wants our undivided attention.   He wants to have a private one-on–one with us.  Many times as a parent I had to take a child aside and have a heart-to-heart chat about one thing or another.  The conversation was not for all ears to hear.  It was meant for a specific set of ears.  This is the same with the Lord.  He is our father, we are His child.  We can cast everything, both the good and the bad, before Him and know that He hears and understands it all.  He walks with us no matter what situation we are in. 

Jesus is not the kind of God who forces anyone to do anything.  He is filled with love for each one but allows us the free will to choose His way or not.  When we acknowledge Him as Christ our Savior we only need to trust Him with the physical doors of our lives and the emotional doors of our lives.  We just need to hold onto faith that He is for us, not against us.  That He is molding us into a better person.  That He will always love us no matter what.