Inside The Door

There is a children’s chorus that we used to sing as very young children, which has come to mind. It has not come in isolation, for with it has come many memories. These are pleasant, joyful and exciting remembrances of Sunday school days, Vacation Bible school days, and such times. The words of the chorus go like this.

One door and only one and yet its sides are two,

Inside and outside on which side are you,

One door and only one and yet its sides are two,

I’m on the inside on which side are you?

In this chorus, the question is asked about one’s position or place in relation to the door. Is a person holding a place inside the door, or holding a place outside the door? The singer is ready and prepared to state the place where he or she is. That place is inside the door. It’s no different from Joshua speaking to God’s people about the two options before them. Joshua 24: 14 – 15. Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Ammonites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

These all bring home forcibly to us that there is a choice given to us, as has been given to the Hebrew children in this time of Passover, this time of salvation. They are to remain inside their blood-marked houses, or face the destruction of God.

You and I both know about the blood and its saving powers, but some of us do not pay attention to the fact of the curfew, which was placed upon the Israelites. The word curfew, has been deliberately used, as it is a mandate given by Almighty God for them to remain indoors during the specified time. This curfew exposes the discipline of God’s people to obey His order to stay inside their blood-marked houses. This curfew is personal and individual for all who can hear and understand.

Let’s reason this through. You will agree with me that with any such curfew, the onus is on the individual. Each person, male or female, must have the mind, determination and resolve to obey. You, for example, may obey, but you cannot obey for your spouse, your mother, your friend or your neighbour. This is an individual call, as we solemnly observe with Noah. God told Noah to build an ark, and He told him why. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Genesis 6: 17 – 19. We must not miss this point. Noah’s family and his in-laws, had to believe him, to follow his lead and enter the ark.

Here is a sobering truth. Regardless of the promise God made to Noah, if any offspring of Noah, for example, did not enter the ark, that son or daughter would not be saved.  

Will you hear this word as you have never heard it before? No amount of the perfect blood of salvation will save any child of God who refuses to keep the curfew. Even if you belong to a house of God’s people, a house marked out for salvation, a guaranteed promise to not have the destroyer enter it, you will not be spared God’s wrath, if you disobey the curfew.

Does this have something to do with Jesus saying this to His disciples and to us also? As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15: 9 - 11

I leave you to ponder that thought.