LightGrams
November 29, 2018
Volume 22, Number 42
If I ever open a place of business (which I doubt I ever will), I think I will include in my operating expenses the cost of a good security system. How could I make a profit if burglars break through my doors, helping themselves to my wares? So why do many businesses at this time of year spend tons of money advertising “door busters”? How can their businesses survive if people knock down their doors?!
Black Friday (and the several days that now surround that event) are filled with door busters. Consumers often respond by showing up in droves to nab those specially-priced bargains. Sometimes the crowds grow unruly as they race for the most drastically marked-down products. They really do bust the doors.
Funny, isn’t it, that you never hear of crowds gathered outside the doors of a church’s meeting place, ready to bust down the doors? If only more people knew the treasures that can be found among people whom God blesses!
Jesus once spoke about standing outside a door: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus, whose awesome powers created the heavens and the earth (see John 1:3,10; Colossians 1:16), could easily knock down our doors. But that’s not His style. He waits for us to open of our own free will.
To change the image slightly, consider John 10:9: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” The “door” in this passage refers to the opening of a sheepfold. At night the sheep were placed within the confines of a low stone wall; only one opening allowed entrance or exit. The Shepherd Himself became the “door”. Entering by Jesus means salvation, blessings.
Imagine a pharmaceutical company announcing that they had developed a vaccine against cancer of all types. For one day only people could be vaccinated for free. Do you think there would be long lines waiting for the doors to open?
Salvation through Jesus supersedes any earthly vaccine. To have His blood wash away our sins means our eternity is secure and bright. Who wouldn’t want that?
Here’s a door buster that Jesus spoke about: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45,46).
What about us? Have we found that “pearl of great price”? “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2018, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “Tim@GraceMine.org” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
Permission to reproduce and/or use the messages for noncommercial purposes is freely granted provided the messages are not altered.