On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. (Rev. 21:25)
“The door is always open.” I can vividly remember the dark journey home, as a boy, from visiting my aunt. The lights of home shone bright in the night sky, and I was drawn into its embrace. Knowing that home brought safety filled my tired feet and burning lungs with the hope to press on. Home sets everything right, comforts every fear, and wipes away every tear. Home is where the door is always open.
Moving throughout this new city, the new Eden, John saw the gates open to full access. What had once been slammed shut—at the expulsion of Adam and Eve—was now fully opened, with unfettered access. Only the God of redemption and restoration could reopen what was once cut off.
Like John, we need to recapture our perspective on home. Like the prodigal son, whom Jesus spoke of, our awareness must be awakened and reminded that, because of Jesus, home’s door is always open. We will be received and brought back in, not just as servants, but as one who sits at the Father’s table.
The beauty of Eden is home’s desire to reside with us. While the new Eden welcomes us in, it also wants to be brought into our world with us, to shape and form our life and world according to its glory and light. Is your door to Eden always open?
Welcome the new Eden of God’s redemption into your life today.
Aaron Golden is a church planter and lead pastor at Union Point Church in New Bern, North Carolina.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
