“And the Door Was Shut”

 

So, right now, my office is a funny (ironic) place to be.  I came in and shut my door to write this blog post and to rewrite a chapter in the next suspense.  I knew exactly what I wanted to write about, so I typed the title for this post… and heard a bang and a thud.

The dog ran into my office door and dropped her Kong.

Head first.

She thought she could just nudge it open like she usually does, I guess, and learned differently.  She’s stubborn.  How do I know?

Before I could get up and open it, she ran head first into the door again.

But this isn’t about my dog, even if she is an endless source of entertainment around here.  (And, PS, she isn’t hurt.  She took her Kong into the den to harass the rest of the family into throwing it for her.  Trust me… that’s a never-ending activity around here.   Never. Ending.)

What it’s about is closed doors.

 

Our church has started out the new year by talking about “getting serious.”  Getting serious in our walk with Jesus.  In being a witness.  In everything to do with our relationship with Him.  For the last two weeks, we’ve landed in Matthew 25 on the parable of the ten virgins.  Ten show up for the wedding.  Ten fall asleep.  Ten wake up when the bridegroom comes.  Only five have light.  Only five get in.  Five run off to get oil for their lamps only to come back and find a closed door.

Matthew 25:10b never chilled me so much as it did today.

 

And the door was shut. (Matthew 25:10b, NIV)

Those words today almost made me ache.  They are so final.  So hopeless.

One day, the door is going to shut.  One day, Jesus is going to return and take His home and that will be it.  All of those people who have heard of Him, who have been offered the chance to believe in Him, to receive Him… they are going to find the door shut.  The NLT says they will find it “locked.”

That will be it.  The end.  No more chances.  No more “I”ll do it later.”  No more sitting on the fence.  No more nothing.  Just a shut door.  Pound on it, beat on it… it will stay shut.  Because when Jesus did what he said in Revelation 3:20, they kept their own door shut.

Oh, God, how much that hurts.  That finality of a shut door…

I want to feel that finality every day.  That urgency.  That drive to not let anyone be shut out.

That’s my prayer.  I have a list of people whose salvation I pray for.  But, God, let me be more urgent.  Let me be more open to your leading.

Let me not be the reason anyone faces a door that’s shut.

-JB