“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8 NET).
When I was a kid, my two brothers and I lived with a lady whose name was Yvonne. One day she made us pile into the car with her to go visiting. When we arrived at our destination, she marched up the steps of the house and onto the porch, with us following behind like little ducklings. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. We marched back down the steps and sat in the car to wait.
Several minutes later, because I was the oldest, Yvonne sent me back to the house to knock on the door again. So up the steps and onto the porch I went and tentatively knocked. Suddenly, the door burst open and a mean-looking lady glared down at me. In true Charlie Brown fashion I heard, “Waa waa waaa, waa waa waaaa?!” Struck mute but not flightless, I flew down the steps and back to the car as fast as my little legs could carry me.
Since that day, I have never been one who enjoys knocking at someone’s door. In my college days, door-knocking campaigns were all the rage. Although I participated, I was always glad that I went with a guy who did all the talking, because my vocal chords were frozen!
To me, the medieval interpretation of the entrance to heaven, complete with pearly gates and a stern saint Peter, has never been comforting. Standing outside the gate as he runs his finger down the list of O’s is a scary image. I am glad that Paul gives us a taste of what that last day really will be like.
“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
In my life, I have received much and found much, and doors have been opened to me. But in that last day, I will not have to stand alone to knock on heaven’s door, because I know the Son for whom the doors of heaven are standing wide open, not only for him but for all who belong to him. And although fear and awe may leave us speechless , we will fly through heaven’s gates with the Son who gives us wings.