Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds. Colossians 4:3
Has God ever opened a door for you? What kind of door was it? If the apostle Paul could ask the Assembly in Colosse to pray for God to open a door of utterance, maybe that’s the kind of door that we should want God to open for us, too. What is a door of utterance? I believe there are two types of doors of utterance: the kind that Paul is referring to in our text, and the kind that God used to see each of us brought to Himself.
Before we were saved, there was a time when you and I were without a door of utterance. No matter what anyone said to us, no matter what the preachers were saying, our hearts were closed and the Holy Spirit could make no headway in His strivings with us. But that door of utterance was eventually opened, and we were brought to repentance and faith in Christ. How thankful we are today that God opened that door of utterance, a door through which the witness of others and the prayers of the Christians could be effective! And as we pray for our loved ones who are still in their sins, and for others who God lays on our hearts to witness to and pray for, we long that they will also experience a door of utterance opening into their souls.
But Paul in our text is referring to another door of utterance, the opening up of opportunities to preach the Gospel and to witness for His Lord. As we study Paul’s life as described in the book of Acts and referred to in the epistles, we see that God indeed opened many doors of utterance for Him. He preached before kings and governors, before audiences of eager Gentiles and angry Jews, before huge crowds and lone individuals, before friendly folk and fierce opponents. Many thousands received the Gospel through those doors of utterance that God granted to Paul. We will never have an opportunity to reach as many as Paul did. But we might be able to reach some. Maybe God has already given us some doors of utterance. What about our neighbours, our relatives, our fellow workers or classmates? Have we asked God to open a door of utterance to them? And what would we do it we discovered such an open door? Paul was always ready to witness for his Lord; maybe that’s why God gave him so many doors of utterance. And maybe that’s why He has given us so few.
We should thank God for opening a door of utterance into our souls. And we should ask Him to give us a door of utterance to others. – Jim MacIntosh