Door of No Return in the Elmina Castle, Ghana
Are you a visual person? When you read things, do you picture them in your mind? I have a very vivid imagination and it doesn’t matter if I’m reading a novel or a newspaper article, I picture what I’m reading. I love it when I actually come across something in life that is a picture of something I’ve read, particularly Scripture. This happened when I toured the Elmina Castle in Ghana, West Africa.
Matthew 7:13-14 says,
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
While touring the slave castle, we came across the door of no return, which was a small doorway in the side of the castle. It was used for slaves to pass through one at a time to walk the plank onto the ship to take them to a their new home. Unfortunately, for the slaves, it wasn’t a transition to a better place. In many cases, it was much, much worse. The thing that stood out to me was the size of the doorway. There was no way more than one person could enter through it at a time. It wasn’t wide or tall. Someone wouldn’t just wander through that way aimlessly. The person passing through that doorway, did so intentionally.
The doorway to life is the same. You don’t just wander through it aimlessly. You do so on purpose and with purpose.
In Mark 1:35 we read,
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.
Jesus took time away to be with the Father, to be intentional about His relationship with Him, to clearly hear what His Father had to say, because He did nothing without the direction of the Father [John 5:19].
When was the last time you squirreled away with the Father for a lengthy period of time to make sure you were on the proper path? It is important to gather with other believers and to strengthen one another in the faith, but there are times when we need to have that one on one time with the Lord [Proverbs 27:17, Hebrews 10:25].
I will be taking the next two weeks off to squirrel away with the Lord so I can clearly hear His voice and gain insight into the direction He’s taking me. I’ll miss meeting you here, but I’ll be back on Monday, July 29th. Until then, why not take some time of your own to seek Him and make sure you’re on the path He’d have you on.
I pray your time is fruitful and fulfilling. I know our Lord will meet you there.
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