“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev. 3:20
Some of you may be familiar with this well known, fairly often quoted scripture in the Bible. But perhaps you have missed what I did for years. For the more I chase after the Lord, the more I seek His face and study His Word, the deeper He takes me in knowing Him, in loving Him, in understanding His Word, in being convicted by His Spirit about my ever need for repentance, and the more desirous I become to please and revere Him, to love, adore, honor, and obey Him, to be conformed to His beloved Son, my most precious Savior, Jesus the Christ. Deeper understanding coupled with deeper conviction brings more repentance and I am drawn ever closer to Him, drawn ever near to Him, as I come running into His presence.
Okay if the truth be told, I don’t always come running. Sometimes I come hobbling from recent stumbles. Or crawling from recent falls. Or slowly inch by inch, head hunkered down, heart heavy, tip toe inch by inch making my way to Him, wounded from something, or someone, or ashamed at what I have done, nevertheless knowing He is the one I need and the one I desire. Learning day by day not to come away from His presence at all, ever, but to learn to stay in it, learning to abide in Christ day by day, hour by hour, breath by breath as I hunger to cleave to the Lord, knowing Him ever more, the more I know Him, not wanting to part from Him for even a moment. I am breathtakingly in love with Him!
What did I see in this verse for the first time? Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts. First we need to HEAR Him. Then we must OPEN the door. Some of us are too distracted, or obstinate, too busy, too preoccupied, too wrapped up in ourselves, in the pleasures of this life, in whatever or whomever, in sin perhaps, to hear. Some of us HEAR Him but this doesn’t mean we necessarily OPEN the door.
We must HEAR Him AND OPEN THE DOOR. Both. Not one without the other. Some of us are HEARING Him but refusing to OPEN the door. He wants to come in not just for a visit, but to stay.
Is there anything or anyone keeping you from HEARING Him? Or, are you HEARING Him and refusing to OPEN the door? Or, have you humbly OPENED wide the door of yourself that the Spirit of God might abide in you forever as you yield your life to Christ for eternity?