The Invitation

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9

Jesus says in no uncertain terms that HE is the Door to everything that we’ve ever dreamed or hoped for or even imagined.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

I knocked on this “door” when I was 7 years old and the door to life has begun a dance ever since with lots of twists and turns, bumps and bruises. This was my invitation to the really real where the perspective of reality can actually be seen and freedom fully known. Only from this vantage point is the curtain rolled back to reveal life as God intended it to be. The invitation is offered to “taste and see that He is good” – from the “Keeper of the Door”. This “life dance” begins with Jesus and ends with Jesus. The Door affords us everything of victory in Christ: no striving, no earning but ironically–through letting go–the ultimate pasture and peace and rest our souls are longing for. Though it’s certainly an adventure; it is not a door to the unknown; God has kindly made Himself known through His Son–the chief shepherd–the Lord Jesus Christ.

The invitation is open.

Oh glorious gift beyond the Door: the unending outpouring of more strength, more beauty – more Jesus because I am His and He is mine. Here, our weakness is replaced with His strength; and our worldly ugliness traded for His divine beauty. So why do we cling so tenaciously to the dull and the ordinary and the familiar?

The invitation is open…and challenged.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

The thief beckons too. He offers other attractive doors for you to pass through. He’s full of broken promises, quick fixes, and half-truths lasting just long enough to entice until trapped and devastated. This ever smiling and attractive gentleman is every bit the scoundrel, bent on death with the slow suffocation of promises left wanting.

This invitation is open too.

Already within the door? The thief offers you suppressed holiness, something less than the fullness of life. We cannot afford him that satisfaction–not for those who are within the Door.

Have you been distracted by something that’s outside the Door? Be encouraged. There is no one too lost or too broken for the welcome invitation of this Door to Life; the Door is as wide open as it can be–His arms outstretched as far as they can afford, this most vulnerable posture, ready to offer what is so undeserved.

The invitation is open.

One Door. One Voice calling for His children to come and follow: to enter the abundant life as it was intended to be. We only need to sincerely ask, seek, and knock.

Once inside the door, the Keeper of the door is also the Keeper of my heart. The twists and turns, the bumps and bruises and even the falls are not in vain because only by His grace am I still dancing at all. My good Father remains the Lord of the dance with purpose in every step, and as my “dance partner”, He always leads well. I’m called to simply trust and follow His lead, and as I relinquish control with child-like faith, new truths are revealed and new eyes given to see the deeper and richer colors of God’s incredible strength and beauty.

Jesus is the Door. He invites us to the green pasture beyond–to the Father who is good–to the place where you can rest and live well.

I AM the Door. The invitation is open.

I love to tell the story;
More wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies
Of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story,
It did so much for me:
And that is just the reason
I tell it now to thee.
I love to tell the story
T’will be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and His love.