The door that God opens cannot be shut.

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“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.
This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
and what he closes, no one can open:
‘I know all the things you do,
and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.
You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.'” 
Revelation 3:7 New Living Translation

I worked the pole bean fields for much of my early life. I began by picking the beans and then moving to a weigh boy, a job that covered a multitude of tasks from irrigating the fields to weighing the beans for the pickers. This outhouse in St. Elmo, Colorado looks much like the outhouses that we used everyday with one big difference: we didn’t have padlocks on the doors. I can’t imagine what would have happened if those doors had been locked shut.

St. Elmo, Colorado

My gut tells me that some prankster has locked a family member or friend in this outhouse (not that you and I would do such a dastardly thing).

God had opened a locked door for the church in Philadelphia in Asia minor (present day Turkey), but where did that door lead?

The door that God opened to the church in Philadelphia was the door to his kingdom. Through Christ these new, fledgling Christians had access to the presence of God. He opened the way to the Father that no one can shut. It’s a door that is also open for us who have been clothed with Christ. We have access to the Father through Jesus. We have entry into the presence of God which no one can close.

On the other hand, the open door is also a door to live like Christ in the world. A door that is open for us to love like Christ loved, to forgive as Christ forgave, and to be merciful as Christ was merciful. This was also the door God opened for the people of Philadelphia as their community, their city of brotherly love, would need to experience Christ’s presence through his followers.

So the door that is open leads two ways. It leads to the heart of God and to our world. When God opens the door to his heart, he also opens the door to our world. I pray that you see the open door before your eyes. It is a door that no one can shut.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner