A comfort zone is generally known as a good thing, but it can also be very debilitating. When we become too accustomed to our routines that we are unmovable, we are set in our ways and this isn’t good. We may not always roll out the welcome mat for change, but to resist it is an impediment to our spiritual growth. We can’t make a habit of holding too tightly to things or always looking back. Too many of us are doing this. We’re always looking to go back to doors that were once opened but are now closed. The thing we forget is that we’re not the same person we were back then, at least we shouldn’t be. God commands us to abound in Christ. This means growth! It means that we are continually acquiring more knowledge about Jesus Christ, and we’re putting on this knowledge so that we are transformed by it. So, while the comfort zone has its place, it should be a very temporary reality. We need to settle this in our minds, because the Lord Jesus Christ is going to shake some things up, and we need to be prepared.
We sometimes forget how radical the Lord Jesus Christ was during his ministry on earth. He came to break down barriers, and there were many. People living during earlier biblical periods had none of the amenities we have today, and things were even more challenging for women and children. The Romans had strict governmental authority which oppressed God’s people, not to mention the increasing pressure they also faced to conform to the many strict guidelines and rules of Jewish laws, customs, and traditions. If an individual didn’t comply, they would be ostracized and not accepted in society. This could make it very difficult to earn a living and obtain food for themselves and their families.
The message of the Gospel that our Lord and Savior taught freed the minds and hearts of people. They had made themselves comfortable with bondage, even though they were oppressed. Jesus Christ offered them the liberty their prophets had foretold, but you see, they didn’t expect it to come from someone like our Master Jesus. They were expecting an earthly king much like the ones of other kingdoms they had seen. Power from within was a foreign concept to them. So, the king they had in mind was one with all the trimmings of jewels and gold. They were expecting him to be adorned with fine linens and garments, and all the other symbols that people generally relate to prominence and wealth.
Jesus was a carpenter’s son and was trained in the trade himself. He had very humble beginnings, and again, this was something that didn’t jive with their thoughts about a king’s pedigree. People thought he was coming to open doors that had been opened hundreds of years prior. They were not understanding God’s requirement of walking by the Spirit in faith.
Jesus came to purify hearts and minds, to do a cleaning of our souls from the inside out, but people living then were only concerned with the outside, and this is how most are today. Too much focus on the outside and not nearly enough on the inside will cause us to miss what God has in store. We’re clinging too close to comfort and forgetting that our mission in Christ will press us beyond those walls. So, we are faced with a choice. We can remain in the place we’re used to, or we can allow the Lord to open a new door.
To those of us that are saying we’re not hearing him clearly enough, the Lord is speaking to us loud and clear in Revelation 3:8-11(NIV). He’s telling us, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Our blessed Savior isn’t talking about a specific denomination in this passage, he is speaking to those of us who follow and love him, and who understand that he is holy. He is speaking to those who know that he is the One that can open and close doors. And we must not be fooled, he makes sure we understand that he knows our works. Our Master Jesus is looking for the fruit we’ve produced. He said in John 15:1-2, 8(NLT), “1 I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”
He understands our condition. He knows we have little strength and power, and he wants us to know that God expects us to use our little power to keep His Word and to tell people about Jesus, and we should never deny his name. Our faith must produce good works. These are not works of law but works of faith. By this, we must know that when Jesus Christ opens the door for us, he intends for us to do what is necessary to walk through it. And we should have no doubt that walking through a door that Christ has opened will pull on us to obtain greater knowledge of him and greater works of faith.
We have spent so much time on ourselves, on our own agendas and doing whatever it is that we wanted to do. We’re too impressed with numbers, wealth, status, and all the other trappings that aren’t important to God. Acclimating our minds and hearts to the reality that Jesus Christ is coming is a must. When our Master Jesus returns, none of the things that society thinks matters will do anything for us. He wants us to use everything at our disposal to tell someone about him and to keep on talking about him to whoever will listen. Don’t waste this precious time trying to open doors the Master has already closed. Be committed to produce fruit. When this is firmly in your heart, you’ll see the door he’s opened and walk through it. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
“The Door that Only Jesus Christ Can Open” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!