Friday, June 6, 2008

closed and open doors

2 timothy 3:10-17; O Lord great peace have they that love your law; Mark 12:35-37

I came across a quote today as I was waiting in line to get an iced coffee to cool off from the heat.  As I glanced to my left standing at the counter there were some cards  to be purchased. 

Each card had a spiffy little quote.

One of the cards that caught my eye was one with a quote by Helen Keller, "when the door of happiness closes, another door opens.  But most of us stare too long at the closed door to see the other open in its place."

Interesting quote that speaks to all of us.  

How much time and energy have we spent staring at the closed door, with utter disbelief that it was no longer open, all the while missing the open opportunity that arrived in its place. 

Many of us will kick and scream and pull and push on that closed door, determined to will it open.  Yet, closed it remains and closed we remain to the wonders God seeks to do in our life. 

As it is with us, so it was with the Scribes that Jesus speaks to in the gospel.  

The scribes were not bad people; they were of good moral character, they sought to live accordingly God's will and favor in their life.  they were well learned in the law and prophets; this was the problem. 

They trusted more on their intellectual ability to understand God's will rather than on God's ability to unfold it. 

When the door closed on their understanding, they refused to look for the opening; they kept insisting that the door was not closed; they kept insisting on their way, their understanding, their wisdom of how it should be.

This is why they did not accept Jesus Christ, he was beyond their understanding, he was the door that opened to a new way, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" when the other closed and yet they missed it because they trusted in what they understood God to be rather than trusting in God.

When the door seems closed; Look up then look again; the opening is nearer than you imagined, because with Christ the way is always open.

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