Check Your Coat

A few months back a friend of mine invited me to lunch. This lunch was held at an extremely exclusive restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. The restaurant was impeccable, the food was excellent, the service was superior and the conversation was stimulating. All things considered it was a wonderful experience. The only strange thing is that my mind went in an entirely different direction shortly after we entered the building.

As is the case in many finer restaurants, one of the first things you encounter after entering the door is a coat check room. Now I am fairly sure that everyone reading this has used a coat check before, but just in case someone has not, it works like this. After you are safely inside the building, you take off your coat and hand it to an individual behind a counter. They will take your coat and trade you a small piece of paper. Actually, at first appearance, they seem to be getting a pretty good deal. That piece of paper is important, for on it is a number. That number corresponds to the hook on which they will hang your coat. Once the exchange is complete, you go to see the maître’d and have your dinner. It is a relatively painless procedure.

My friend commented to me as we gave them our coats: “We certainly don't want to take these with us to lunch; in fact we could use one of these coat checks at church.” Here is where my mind went haywire. It occurred to me that we already have one. The only difference is that it does not say: “Check your coat at the door.” Instead it says: “Check your problems at the door.” Oh we may not say it, but we imply it don't we. We sometimes seem to prefer that a person only comes if they have their life in order and will not take too much of our time and energy.

Guess who would never say or imply that . . . Jesus. He would say: “Problems welcome.” In fact they are not only welcome, they are His specialty.

What in your life are you hiding from others because they may not accept you if you reveal it? I am not saying you should reveal it to others, in reality, you should be cautious in such revelations. Reveal it to Jesus. He not only will accept you with it, He invites you with it. He put it like this: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

Shouldn't we be more like Him? Shouldn't we accept others as they are? Shouldn't we offer rest instead of condemnation? Yes. That leaves us with this gaping hole: “Why don't we?” We may have a thousand reasons, but the one question that must be asked is: “Is your reason valid in the Lord's eyes?” Neither is mine.