Blog-December 21st, 2016

You Make a Better Door Than a Window

Does the Lord like doors or windows better?

Psalm 24: 7-10 says: Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!

I just talked with someone who wanted prayer for a loved one who is facing the possibility of cancer. They said that the doctors didn’t think it was cancer, but they couldn’t say that it was definitely not cancer without running further tests. I replied that they needed to leave the door open for that possibility, as unwelcoming as that might be.

Usually, an open door is a welcoming sight, especially for thieves. Just kidding! People see an open door as an invitation to come in. If they shut the door in your face, they probably don’t want you to come in.

That is the spirit of Psalm 24, that we welcome the King of Kings into our lives and our circumstances. When we welcome Him in He can be protector over the castle of our hearts and He can watch with us for the unwelcome guests that we don’t want to allow into our circumstances. The psalmist is imploring us to not be the shut gate or the closed door to the King of Glory, but to be a welcoming site for His reception.

This passage is a great introduction to celebrating the birth of Christ, as we are set to welcome Him into our celebrations. We reflect on the unwelcoming nature of so many during Jesus’ earthly  ministry and thus, we continue to ask the Lord to remind us that celebrating His birth must take precedence over our selfish desires to assert family as the higher calling.

Let us open our hearts with fullness, and not worship only because we believe it is an obligation. Windows serve their purpose, but if our hearts are simply windows, they are thinly veiled and easily broken. Doors have the possibility of being open or being shut. They too serve their purpose. So, does the Lord prefer windows or doors? Yes.

The Lord is not going to come to the door of our hearts with an axe like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Let us welcome the Lord to peer into our hearts to see what is needed, but also to take up residence, through our willingness, so that we don’t live alone in this world. Amen.