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 NKJV

Our small Cape Cod home has four ways to gain access inside. The front door is the most obvious. It faces the road and is the one strangers or first-time visitors come through.

However, sometimes their knocking goes unheard because it is not used very often, and we are somewhere else in the house. The basement door is only used by those of us who live here. Guests never enter by way of this door. We also have two side doors. One is always locked and kept closed. We simply never use it. But the other side door gets the most use. It is how family and friends come into our home.

Recently, we welcomed first-time guest and without thinking, I led them in the side door. Normally they would have been brought in through the front of the house. But these were two Christian writer friends and they felt more like family than guests. We skipped the formal entry altogether. When I brought them in through the side door of our house, this got me thinking about biblical times, and the many ways people entered the city of Jerusalem, with all her doorways and gates.

There are four main gates to Jerusalem, and each faced prominent directions:

• Damascus Gate faced north.
• Zion Gate faced south.
• Lion’s Gate faced east.
• Jaffa Gate faced west.

The Lion’s Gate was the most popular doorway into the city for the Jewish people because it was closest to their homes and the temple. The other gates would have been where the judges sat. Travelers would be more likely to use the other gates.

Here are some interesting insights to the Lion’s Gate:

• Jesus would have used it to gain access to the temple.
• This is the gate Jesus came through during his Triumphal entry on Palm Sunday (see John 12:12-15).
• Jesus would have exited this gate to pray in the garden of Gethsemane.
• The Via Dolorosa, the way Jesus carried the cross out of the city, is closest to the Lion’s gate.
• Going outside of this gate leads to the Mount of Olives where His ascension took place (see Acts 1:9-12).
• When Jesus returns, He will enter through this gate which leads to the temple.

What is the parallel for today? Just like I brought my close friends through the side door because they are like family to me, Jesus used the Lion’s gate because He was family to the Jewish nation. However, many rejected Him and considered Him an outsider.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

John 1:11 NKJV

Friend, Jesus wants to come through the door that family uses and fellowship with you as well. He considers you part of His family. But only you get to choose the relationship you have with Him. Give Him the key to your heart–permit Him to make you family.

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me.

Revelation 3:20 NKJV

Have you given Jesus access to the family door–the door to your heart?

Heavenly Father, thank You that through Jesus, I have a place in the family of God. I choose to let Him reign in my heart, and I give Him access to enter in. I belong to Jesus, the Lion of Judah, who paid the ultimate price to rescue me from sin.

Amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2021: What Door do You Use?: Ben Cooper: All Rights Reserved