God's Welcome Mat

As a hospice chaplain I travel to many different homes and knock on many different doors.  What are so different are the mats which welcome you to the home.  Some of the mats feature the image of the family's favorite sports team.  Of course as a Patriot's fan I would never walk on the symbol of my team, but would consider walking on another AFC team’s logo.  They may have purchased a mat with the family name blazed across the middle welcoming guests to their home.  Then, some may just have a mat which has a more the utilitarian purpose of cleaning the shoes before they come into the house.  While some mats may be carpeted, others may be of recycled materials and even others may be heated for those who live in northern climates. 

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 1:10-11

Peter’s letter begins with reminding the weak and the strong person of faith of the power which has been given over to them so they can live a godly life.  The presence of this power in the life continually helps the Christian to evaluate and reevaluate his or her walk.  Matthew Henry’s commentary of this passage says we should turn the promises into prayers for the purifying and transforming by the Holy Spirit.  Like welcome mats which clean the feet of the person entering a home, this power helps to clean away impurities from the disciple.  At the Passover before his Passion, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.  While ritual bathing would have been needed before the meal, the washing of the feet was a welcome ritual for anyone entering a Jewish home.  God gave us a welcome mat in the form of his son.  The Messiah’s Atonement was the reconciliation of man to God through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah.  The word reconcile has the understanding of a set of scales which are no longer weighted on one side by the sins of man against the holiness of God, but are now brought in balance so man can have a relationship once separated by sin. 
When you walk in a home you might need to look down to see you do not trip on the mat.  To enter into the kingdom of God one must look down upon God’s mat, Jesus Christ, and remember it was my sin which brought him down to earth to die a horrible death.  No one will enter into the kingdom of God unless they use God’s Messiah’s Atonement.  All others will trip over it into judgment.