MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
—Revelation 3:8
Jesus says to the church of the end times, “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength . . .” (Revelation 3:8). The door is a symbol of opportunity.
The apostle Paul used the concept of an open door to illustrate his opportunity to share the gospel. He said, “When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, . . . a door was opened to me by the Lord” (2 Corinthians 2:12).
In the Book of Acts, we see Paul and Barnabas gathering the church together and declaring all that God had done and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles (see Acts 14:27).
Jesus has not only opened the door of opportunity, but He also has the key. He describes himself as “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” (Revelation 3:7). There is no door so tightly closed that God cannot open. There is nothing that is impossible to Him. Or to put it another way, there is no person beyond the reach of God.
We live in a critical time in human history. I think it can be summed up best with the opening words of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . .”
That is the United States today, don’t you think? It is the best of times and the worst of times. In some ways, things have never been worse morally. Yet there is great opportunity for the gospel. There is an open door for us as believers. So take advantage of those doors that God opens.
TODAY’S RADIO PROGRAM: “Loving God — II”
Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie, PO Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.
