Access granted?

Have you ever forgotten a password and been locked out of a website? Internet security can be really, really frustrating! The sites that really get to me are the ones that specify that you must have certain types of characters in a password eg numbers, capital letters, symbols etc. If none of your passwords contains the type of character they want then you have to create a new one and then there is a higher likelihood you will forget it. I’m mostly a calm person but I have threatened to take a hammer to my computer before now. The trouble is the computer has never taken my threat seriously, it still says access denied!

I’m just finishing a free trial of Netflix and I am losing my access today. I am a fan of 24 and when I heard that the new season had been released digitally I trawled the online video sites that were offering free trials. Netflix was offering a free month and I excitedly signed up. Moments later I was disappointed as they had every other season of 24 except the newest one that I wanted to watch. I had access to something pretty good but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I’ve watched lots of things this month and had good value from my subscription (especially because it was free) but I’ve decided not to continue with it and so I’m losing access.

Being granted access is important. Imagine flying all the way to another country only to be blocked at passport control? How frustrating would that be, being so close but not being able to enter the country.

The Bible says we have unlimited access to God and you don’t need a password or to pay a fee. We can live in the presence of Jesus who made this promise,

‘I am with you always’. (Matthew 28.20)

Before Jesus came, the only access to God was at his temple and only the high priest once a year could go into the most holy place (the bit which God was in). The Jews would come to worship knowing that God was in the most holy place but that they didn’t have access to that bit. They had limited access, they were so close to God in their worship but were still not in his immediate presence.

Jesus changed everything! His death and resurrection have opened up access to God for anyone who turns to and trusts in him. Hebrews 10 says that

¹⁹ We can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

If I type the wrong password on the internet the website won’t let me in. If I try to log into Netflix today it won’t work. If I attempt to travel abroad I will be stopped because I don’t have a passport. My access is limited for many things but I can live in God’s presence, in fact if you are a Christian, you cannot be out of God’s presence.

We have free access to God but he also wants access to our lives. Jesus says

I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3.20)

These words are to Christians. Jesus is saying that he wants to share in our lives, not just to speak with us on Sundays. He wants to be our Lord in our everyday lives and not just when we need help. God is always with us but he wants to be involved in our lives, he wants us to let him in.

I can keep my Netflix access if I want to, but I need to invest in it. What will we invest in our relationship with God? Will we include him in our everyday lives?