Always Welcome"

"Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know where I am going and how to get there." "No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We haven't any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6 NLV).

I have a friend who worked in the Middle East. Recently he shared the following story with me. It reminded me of the wonderful grace we have received through Jesus Christ and how we are always welcome to come to our heavenly Father. As we have been thinking about the love of God these past few days, this seemed to be especially appropriate now. He wrote:

A couple of weeks ago, a Kuwaiti friend invited me to the diwaniya (men's meeting) of Muhammed Al-Rashidi, the head of the Al-Rashidi tribe in Kuwait. As we were entering, my friend pointed out to me that there were no doors on the front of the house leading into the 2 large sitting rooms, known as the diwaniya. There are inner doors leading into the rest of the house where the family lives. He told me to mention this strange thing and ask our host why he had no doors on the front of his house. Mr. Rashidi smiled and explained that his family for generations has been the leading family of the tribe. His father, grandfather, and those before him had also been chiefs of the tribe. By long years of tradition, the head of this tribe is known for his hospitality and an open door policy, so that any traveler or visitor can come and find a place to rest, food to eat, and even a place to sleep for the night.

One day in 1975, Mr. Rashidi had gone to work, the children were at school, the women shopping, and the last servant to leave the house had locked the front door. About 10:00 a.m., a man from Saudi Arabia came to see him. Finding the door locked, the man simply laid down in front of the door and went to sleep. Coming home around 1:00 p.m., Mr. Rashidi found the man lying in front of his door and learned that he had found the door locked and been lying there for 3 hours. He was so embarrassed by this that he immediately ordered his servant to call a carpenter to remove the front doors to his house. "No one will ever come to my house and find a locked door again," he said. And for the past 25 years, there has been no door on the front of his house.

There once was a door separating us from the presence of God. However, nearly two thousand years ago, when Jesus spoke His last words from the cross and declared, “It is finished!” that separation was finally and completely removed. To physically reveal that truth to mankind, the Bible says, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.” That was the “door” that separated God’s presence from all but the high priest of Israel. With its removal, all people now had access to His grace and love. Come into His presence today. Rest in His arms today! You will always be welcome!