Doorkeeper

Psalm 84:10b
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.


To win a race one must run faster than all the other runners. He who runs a race is not to be content with second or third place; certainly not last. One who runs a race to win will probably know a little about what to expect from the competition. He would spend some time analyzing their strategies so he can formulate his own to the best of his advantage. He is running to win.

In Christ Jesus we run to win. We must pursue Jesus with fervor and focus. We must exercise our faith so as to be able to stay in the race and run well. We are running to win the most valuable crown of all; the crown of righteous won for us by our Lord. Yet, to be among the winners, we must not compete.

We train and run as if for a competition but we must lay aside all of the competitiveness of our flesh if we want to win. How do we win if we are not before others or better than others? We run against our own flesh. We have to be first at dealing with every temptation before our flesh entices us to take in it. We have to be quick to take every thought of ours captive to the truth of God’s word. We must train our minds in God’s word and train our hands for battle in prayer. The competition is fierce and it is to the death and it is against our own selves.

The most dangerous thing we will ever face is our own flesh. If we follow our flesh, we can be disqualified from eternal life. It would be better to be beheaded. The very thing we are deceived into thinking we must protect, our life, is the very thing that will take us to hell if we follow its desires. Your flesh serves Satan, plain and simple. It is not just a little confused or a little undisciplined. Without the grace of God, each of us would betray God in a heartbeat (less if we could move faster).

The enemy would like for us to run hard – against each other. We can be pursuing knowledge of God in great strides but if it is in comparison to others that we take our joy; we will have none. Let us beat our flesh by earnestly praying that our brothers and sisters around us will excel ourselves in all of God’s graces.

I pray that this will be my own mind: I will gladly hold open the door for my heavenly family to come through. I will, with great honor, be the last and pick up what they dropped on the way in. I will show them to their mansions and rooms and sleep on the front stoop. I don’t care; I just want to be on the right side of the door. Lord, just don’t let me dwell in the tents of the wicked. Don’t leave me to my wicked self.



If Jesus made himself the very threshold we walk across to gain entry; than to be a doorkeeper must be a great honor. With dependence on God’s understanding, let us pursue the righteousness of our fellow Christians us as if it were as important as our own. Let us not compare one to another but keep our eyes on the true mirror of God’s word and our hand in the hand of our lowly Jesus.

Lord, grant that we would see the deceptions of our flesh in the pride of competitiveness. Give us love for you and hatred for sin and open hearts to live in your truth.