When I painted my door red last year at first I had no clue it carried any meaning.

I was just trying to add some color and pizzazz to my older home and I knew it would look great at Christmas.

Out of curiosity I looked into it and I found one of the meanings. Back in the day when people traveled by horse or foot a red door was a sign of welcome to a weary traveler.

As days passed I could not stop obsessing over my door.

I would come home from the grocery store and just sit in my driveway captivated by it and I could not for the life of me figure out why.

Until, one day after some prayer I realized.

The door represented what I wanted my heart to be. 

A heart which says welcome and invites others in.

A heart that is safe and is a soft place to land.

A heart like my Lord’s. 

A few months ago I was on the phone with my friend Colleen and I was explaining about the red door and how it had impacted me.

I explained how it had messed with me and was compelling me to ask myself hard questions.

Her reply was what stunned me and changed everything.

“Holly, the red door means something to you because Jesus is The Red Door.” 

That sentence plunged right into my heart and has never escaped.

I got off the phone and the ginormous lump in my throat moved up to my eyes and the tears spilled over like a river.

Jesus’ heart had embraced me from day one and had become my safety.

His arms said, “welcome home” from the moment I ran into them. And when Christ invited me in, He didn’t hold back.

He didn’t say, “Now, I’m gonna love you with parts of my heart, but, you just may hurt me or cause me to have rejection issues, so I am going to hold back some.”

He loved me extravagantly. Wholeheartedly. Completely.

And here’s the real mind-boggling thing, He knew from the beginning there would be many days I would not mention His name or say a prayer of thanksgiving.

And He loved me anyway.

And here’s the crux of it–He challenges us Christ followers to do the same.

To love without limits. To pour out grace like gravy and to love relentlessly.

Listen to His words:

“A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

Notice how He says clearly, “as I have loved you”.

So, you could say since last year the red door has invaded my comfy little life.

It has probed me and revealed selfishness, pride, and fear and keeps asking me bossy questions I’ve tried to ignore:

“Will you invite others in and take time for them? Will you love wholeheartedly even when it costs you? Will you extend mercy and forgiveness in the same measure I have given to you?

Dang.

And I was just hoping for a pretty new door for Christmas.

So, my dear friends- here is our challenge for this Christmas:

And it’s not about changing our door color, (but you can if you like :)) it’s about letting our Heavenly Father change our hearts.

I mean if there is anytime to let Christ invade our hearts and make them new I can’t think of a better time than Christmas.

So, the dare for each of this year is this:

This Christmas we will not just open our doors and show off our fancy trees, (eh..um) and pumpkin rolls. We will extravagantly swing open our hearts.

We will let Christ unbar them because He is and has been our safety and in the shadow of His wings he has given us courage. He has bound up our hearts, healed them, and sends us forth to offer the same healing and refuge to others.

This Christmas we will kneel before Him and ask Him to show us who needs our love and grace.

We will ask Him who needs to be seen, who needs our forgiveness, and our time and attention way more than an expensive gift.

We know more times than not, we make Christmas about the gifts, the food, and the parties, but what I know to be true in the deepest part of my heart is what we are longing for is a Christmas that transforms.

A Christmas which transforms our relationship with Christ and others.

A Christmas which beckons us to look beyond ourselves and to truly connect with the people we have been given and the ones the Lord places in our path.

What you and I are hoping for after all the shiny packages are torn and the ham has been carved, is that our hearts would be painted red.

A crimson red that bleeds love and mercy so pure it leaves a stain that marks us and those around us changed forever.

You and I don’t need another Christmas full of extravagant gifts and overfull bellies.

But we do need a Christmas and a Savior who came to teach us how to love like Him.

A Savior who came to exemplify how to be a safe place for the weary and how to live a life, not just a Christmas, which says welcome home.

Here’s to a very merry Red Door Christmas.

*Who has been a Red Door person (people) in your life? Who has welcomed you and made you feel safe and invited in? Would love to hear in the comments. And I encourage you to write your red door people a note saying thank you and how much they have impacted you. 🙂

Sharing is caring!

Facebook

Linkedin

Twitter

Pinterest

Buffer