Three Doors to Open for the King (Part One)
Riding a stationary bike is not my favorite form of exercise so to make it go faster I like to play upbeat Christian music while working out. A CD by Christian rock group, The Newsboys, is my music of choice at this time and occasionally, God breaks through the rigors of cycling to speak to me through the lyrics.
There’s a line in The Newsboys’ song, The King is Coming, encouraging us to open up the doors because the King is coming. I chewed on that between sweat drops and wondered why the song didn’t just say, “open up the door.” Instead it was plural. So as I thought about it, and realized there are many doors we need to open as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth. For our purposes, I narrowed the list down to three.
#1 Open the door to our hearts.
Have you actually spoken the words and asked Jesus into your heart? Have you surrendered your will and life to him? Many of us think because we grew up in the church, by osmosis, we are Christians. But it’s personal. Each of us are responsible for making a commitment to Christ and are also called to repent before his throne. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
I prayed the prayer to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior when I was in High School, but from college through my early thirties, I was not a follower of Jesus. Because of that, no one saw a difference in me. When I finally opened up the door and gave control of my life to God, that’s when I began to grow in my faith.
Is your spiritual life flat?
Is there a lack of fruit?
Perhaps you need to pry open the door of control and make Jesus Lord of our life. We are not in control anyway even though we often think we are.
Familiar verse John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But what does the word “believe” actually mean? Does it mean to simply acknowledge that Christ exists? The Bible says, “even the demons believe and shudder.” The Greek word for “believe” in the John 3:16 verse is “pisteuo.” It also means to “trust” or “put one’s faith in.” When we put our faith in someone like a financial planner or a counselor, we do what he or she says, don’t we? It’s the same with Jesus. Believing takes action and it means doing our best to follow His teaching and to allow the Shepherd to lead us.
When we opt to open up the door to our heart and listen to God’s instruction, the Word says we are blessed. “Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 8:34-35).
Today, if you have not done so already, won’t you open the door of your heart to God? Let him have the keys to all the chambers and it will be freeing!
On Tuesday, we will reveal the second door to open as we prepare for the birth of the King.