Let Him In

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"
And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?" Matthew 21:8-10

Jesus came to the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passion Week to an eager crowd who were ready to make Him King of Israel. They were so excited that they cut down branches and laid down their clothes so that the Lord’s donkey would not touch the ground as he walked. This is in some ways a very strange scene.

Why do I say that? It is because later in the week most if not all of these people would forsake the very King that they had so warmly welcomed into Jerusalem. The one they had welcomed in they now cast out because He would change the status quo and replace the systems that people had become very comfortable with. The religious leaders who had the most to loose stirred up the people against Jesus because they did not want to cede control of what they had to another.

We must be careful not to cast Jesus out of our lives for this same reason. We become accustomed to the way things have always been and we like it. Then we ask Jesus into our lives, sometimes with great fanfare. A short time later we realize that things are changing and we can’t do all that we used to do and we don’t like it and we don’t accept it. We want Jesus to be a part of our lives, but not our whole life. There are some things that we pronounce “off limits” to the Lord.

One of the ways that God causes a Christian to grow in their faith is by showing them that there are some things in their life that must change. He wants us to open the gates of our heart to him and let Jesus be the King in areas that remain under the control of our old life before we were believers. This thing we give Him can be a habit, a relationship, a lifestyle or any such thing that keeps us from allowing Him to reign in areas of our lives. It is like the Children of Israel who during the conquest of Canaan never got full control of the land because they did not drive out all the inhabitants. They didn’t obey what god had commanded them so they never had total peace in their country. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” To have peace with God and with ourselves it is imperative to let him control all aspects of our lives.

Ask God today if you are shutting Him out of areas in your life. If He shows you that you are, open up the gate of that area and let Him enter triumphantly to make the changes that will allow you to be free from self and fulfilled with all that He has to give you.