by Gabriella Isaac
I recently played a game of word association with a couple of friends. If you are not familiar with this, it is quite simple.
A word is chosen at random, and then you think of a word that you would associate with it. For instance, let’s say our word is ‘tickle’ some words you could associate it with would be ‘laughter’ or ‘giggle’, and for some, it could even be ‘uncomfortable’.
Now, for my group of friends, the words chosen were ‘open’ and ‘door’. I’ll give you a couple of seconds to think of some words that come to mind…
The number of responses I got was quite exhaustive, but I narrowed it down to a few favourites 🙂
For the word ‘open’; it was associated with words like ‘opportunity’, ‘free’, ‘vulnerable’, ‘confident’, ‘exposed’, ‘light’ and ‘access’.
The word ‘door’ was related to terms such as ‘hindrance’, ‘key’, ‘passage’, ‘safe’, ‘enter’, ‘privacy’ and ‘close’.
In the Old Testament, the Holy of holies referred to the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle where God’s presence dwelled. The area was defined by four pillars which held up the veil of covering and upon making a blood offering was only accessed by the high priest (Hebrews 9:7).
In Matthew 27:51; at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, there was a powerful moment where the veil/curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn from top to bottom. This represented the breaking of a barrier to the presence of God. And as a result, you and I gained full and unhindered access to the presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The open door.
We have unlimited entry to His presence, His voice, peace, love, joy, mercy, friendship, healing, counsel and comfort, the list is endless. But do we really know what this means? Do we understand the value of what Jesus did for us? How often do we remember this? How often are we aware that God is not far away.
When the cares of life seem overwhelming, which doors are we opening? I personally am guilty of opening the fridge and opening social media. I don’t know which door you have been knocking on, or what locks you have been trying to pick.
But I just wanted us to remember that the Holy Spirit is always available to us, I’d like us to remember that He has exposed himself to us, that He has freely given us entry to a part of Himself which once was unreachable.
We live in a time where God is so close, and yet we often distance ourselves from Him. But the presence of Jesus is an open door, a place of safety, a place where we can be vulnerable, a place where we can confidently share our most private concerns, and He is always ready to listen. We can receive the greatest satisfaction for our hearts.
Whenever you think of or see an “open door” I’d like you to think of the words from the little game at the beginning and try to associate them with what the Holy Spirit has personally given you and me.
