| “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise…” |
| —Psalm 100:4a |
When a person lives in a gated residence, one of the signs of welcome is that—knowing the people he or she has invited are on their way—the homeowner leaves the gate open for his or her visitors to enter. In the photo above, the gates remain closed. This always gives the impression that guests are only welcomed when they meet certain conditions.
Some wealthy individuals go even further than a wall or fence with a secure gate. Some place broken glass embedded in the top of the wall or fence. Others string razor wire in a coil at the top level of the fence or wall. Others install motion-sensing video cameras to capture movement on their property and sound an alarm. Still others have guard dogs roaming freely about the exterior of the property. All of these offer deterrents to those who might try to enter.
But, God is not like that at all. While God maintains a set of gates to keep out the Enemy, in His Kingdom, He freely opens His gates to everyone He has called to become a part of His realm. He welcomes those invited guests with an openness that cannot be duplicated. This welcoming nature of God has prompted the Psalmist to write these words, found in Psalm 100:4-5:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
We, whom God has chosen to belong to Himself, can freely enter into His Kingdom. His gates are open wide to us. He welcomes us with a loving embrace and with great joy. He waits lovingly and longingly to lavish His favor on us.
As we begin this new day, let’s allow the same loving openness of God to permeate our beings. As God brings people across the pathway of our lives, let’s extend His mercy, grace, and love to them and welcome them into our presence. Then, when God prompts us to share with them what He has done for us, let us do so in as kind and engaging a manner as possible. After all, God welcomes us with gates opened wide. Let us do so to the one’s He brings into our lives this day.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2016
