Open Doors

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true,

he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know

thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength,

and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” (Revelation 3:7-8)

A minister writes of hearing about soldiers returning from the battlefield. The doctors and nurses were

working day and night to relieve their suffering, dressing their wounds, and performing the necessary

operations. A chaplain went from one bedside to another, speaking words of comfort and courage, putting as

much cheer into his conversation as possible. On one bed lay a young man who refused to be comforted. His

right hand had been shot off. “It’s not the pain that hurts me,” he said to the chaplain, “I can stand that, but, you

see, I wanted to be a pianist, and now” as he lifted the bandaged stub from the covers, “that door is shut.” The

door had been shut. Both realized it as they sat helpless before life’s grim reality, for that young man would

never be creating piano music with a single hand except for a miracle of great healing and restoration.

Upon hearing this story, my mind went to a passage in the book of Revelation. “Behold, I have set

before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” For all of us, some doors are shut. He is foolish who says

that life has no limitations. Time after time, we have dreamed of doing things that we cannot possibly do.

These days we live in are not usually conducive to high thinking. For many of us, the open door of

opportunity has been closed―because we have closed it! Not necessarily because we have deliberately plunged

downward into the mire of mediocre and negative thinking; but rather because we are too preoccupied with the

pursuit of trivial matters. We demand the short story or the programs with the least amount of effort and

involvement required.

By no standard of measurement would any of us call ourselves great. Ours is the privilege of standing

for that which is great. It is not what we are, but what we are standing for, that counts. And this door is always

open.

Bear with me for one more thought. You see, finally, there is the open door of fellowship with Christ.

Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock … “The Master did not close the door. The person on the

inside closed it. If Christ is indeed the Master, the door will always be open. Paul said, “Neither death nor life,

nor principalities nor powers … can separate me from God.” On another occasion, Jesus said, “I am the door

…” And doors are not to be admired; they are to be entered. It is open to us even now.

We can enter it, however, only in the spirit of repentance and humility. We have been blessed with that

spiritual ability that enables us to discern between right and wrong. In each of us, there is the capacity for sin

and the capacity for fellowship with God. One leads to sin; the other leads to God. Repentance is turning from

the door of sin and entering the door of Salvation. Repentance is changing one’s mind; it is doing an ‘about-

face.’ The story is told of a man who inquired of a youth by the roadside on the way to a particular town. The

youth replied, “If you continue going the way you are headed, it is twenty-five thousand miles; but if you turn

around, it is just over there.” Multitudes have found, through repentance, the door to new life, new meaning,

and new purpose. It is now open―open for you to enter.

Francis Mason

Pastor Mason