I love doors. I know that’s an odd thing to like. I find the craftsmanship and variety beautiful. Doors also represent hope…something new and exciting on the other side. They may also represent something familiar and inviting. Think of a Christmas wreath hanging on your loved one’s front door. You know that there are amazing things on the other side.
Doors can also bring fear and trepidation. They can bring us face to face with challenges of our past and anxiety if they lead to the dangerous unknown. Doors may look beautiful from the outside but hide something sinister behind them.
Our eyes and ears are the doors to our minds and hearts. What we allow through the doors will determine our destiny. They can derail our God-given anointing or lead us to it. Often, the choice is before us.
After a severe sickness (Isaiah 38), King Hezekiah opens his doors to envoys from a faraway land, Babylon. At this point in history, Babylon is a vassal state of Assyria. They are little known and have very little power. However, Hezekiah’s interaction with a foreign, ungodly nation shows that, at a minimum, he was shortsighted in his interaction with them.
In Hezekiah’s case, he did not just welcome them into his home but showed them everything the Kingdom of Judah possessed (Isaiah 39). Likely, the envoys were there to ally against Assyria, but they left with information about the wealth and power of Judah.
Isaiah visits Hezekiah shortly after the Babylonians leave the palace. His prophecy predicts a time when all that they saw, and Hezekiah’s sons (descendants) will be carried into captivity by the king of Babylon. In verse 8 of Isaiah 39, Hezekiah makes a very odd statement. “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.” NLT
Again, Hezekiah is short-sighted. He looks at how there will be peace in his day but does not think ahead of the ultimate destruction of his nation. Your decisions today may not cause you to lose your salvation, but they may set up the next generation for failure.
Judah goes into captivity because of its continued disobedience toward God. Hezekiah’s actions are not a direct cause of that captivity but are a symptom of the broader problem with Judah’s dependence on the God of Israel.
When my brother and I were young, we frequently played “King of the Mountain.” In this game, each participant tries to push the one at the top off and take their position. One fateful day, I was at the top of a pile of gravel…12 to 15 feet tall. I was winning as one kid from the neighborhood helped defend my position. Of course, that was until only two of us were left. While I thought he was helping me, I was helping him. I realized this as I tumbled down this massive pile of rocks. Ouch is an understatement, but yes, I played again.
The enemy consistently looks for doors, entry points, into our lives. That can come through our attitudes and our actions. They can be overt or descriptive, as with Hezekiah. As Christ-followers, we must be careful about what doors we open.
In his book Gift & Giver, Dr Craig Keener discusses the state of the Western church. He writes of five areas the early church understood as doors for the enemy, but we have normalized in the modern church.
Our excuses as they pertain to Entertainment. We open the wrong door.
Our disobedience in Stewardship. We open the wrong door.
Our unwillingness to Evangelize. We open the wrong door.
We are ignoring Justice Ministry. We open the wrong door.
A lack of Traditional Spiritual Disciplines. We open the door.
My question for you is, what doors are you opening in your life? Ones that let the Holy Spirit in and welcome His activity. Or are you letting the enemy in through your daily choices? Like the Babylonians, our enemy’s ultimate goal is to lead us into captivity. God desires to bring you freedom.
Open doors, but make sure they are the correct doors.
As the old Jamaican song goes, “Shut the door, keep out the devil…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmJZrJ2aEYM
The next time you see a door, remember that it can be an entry point for good or evil. The choice is yours.
Through Time 