The Beggar At Your Gates: What Gates?
Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'
Luke 13:24-27 (NKJV)
Walls and gates are keywords in the Bible. Walls mark home borders. They make safe-havens. If God patrols them, enemies stay out. Consider walls as your city limits, your church building, your home, and your body.
Gates within your walls are physical doors to the world, and also… eternity. Throughout life, you enter and exit doors of your comfort zone: walking out, reaching out, or speaking out. At life's end stands the ultimate Door: Christ! He’s 'The Door' (John 10:7) to eternity with God.
Until that Day, you have a job to do, with places to go and people to see. 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations' (Matthew 28:19). In this work, God says 'You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out' (Deuteronomy 28:6). (Read the list of available blessings written in the Book of Deuteronomy.*)
Under the protection of God’s Spirit, you have an impenetrable force field (like Star Trek, but real!) 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you' (Hebrews 13:5).
Therefore, God's walls and gates travel with you. Not only are you at home everywhere, you, too, ARE a home. You’re a 'City that is set on a hill' (Matthew 5:14), and your Father will send strangers to you.
They stand at the edge of your moving grace. They huddle like visitors drawn to light. They’re outsiders looking in to your joy. Invite them inside.
'Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God…' (Deuteronomy 31:12). Regard them and help them, like Jesus did.
For Christians who won't leave their comfort zones, for we who ignore beggars at our gates, we must re-read our King’s warning in Luke**. He wrote it for us: His body, His church.
'Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!' (James 5:9).
The Beggar At Your Gates: What Gates? (Part 3)
* Deuteronomy 28:1-14: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=+Deut+28%3A1-14&version=NKJV
** Luke 13:24-27: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13%3A24-27&version=NKJV
NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.