“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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.” (Revelation 3:20)
I have always been a private person. Oh, I can be the life of the party when I’m out, but when I get back to my home, I close the doors, get comfortable, and don’t like to be bothered. That sounds terrible to say, I suppose, but I have had my fill of door-to-door salespeople, scam phone calls, nosey people, and busybodies. I sometimes will reveal certain things about myself to others, but I tell those things because the others are too dark to share. My home is my safe space, my castle, my hiding place.
Yet occasionally there comes a knock at my door that I cannot refuse. A tax agent, for example, who has a few questions, or the police asking about activities in my neighborhood. There is a supplemental census being taken right now that is mandatory to respond to or face jail time. These are all interruptions to my peace, distractions from what I want to accomplish in my quiet time. They are there for my good (as the old saying goes, “I’m here from the government, and I’m here to help”), but in my mind I’m already good. Go away.
Then along comes God. He doesn’t stop at the front door. He comes right on in and walks through my house calling out, “Tim, where are you?” He already knows the answer but wants me to respond on my own. There used to be a poem years ago entitled, “If Jesus Came to Your House” I would encourage you to find and read. Sometimes Jesus finds dirty dishes in my sink or a pile of laundry that needs to be done, but that’s not what He’s here for. He wants to check on the status of my heart. Maybe He hasn’t heard from me in a few days and is making a wellness check on me. Maybe He knows there is more to my request than I have spoken so He wants to come do an assessment of the situation on the ground (so to speak). I don’t put Jesus on the same level as the tax man, the police officer, or the census taker – obviously. He truly is here from the Government (of the kingdom of heaven) and He is here to help. It’s good to know Jesus still makes house calls.
I said He comes on in uninvited but that’s not true. He COULD and yes, He often penetrates my solitude with His Presence. But Him I trust. Him I welcome. He sometimes catches me in awkward situations – where I’m trying to do something on my own without asking. And yes, there are times when I’m doing things He probably isn’t real happy with me about, but He comes to my place to set me back on the right path again. He tells us in our passage today that He stands at the door and knocks. To those who open to Him He will give instruction, correction, guidance, and fellowship. From those who don’t He withdraws and moves on to another. I need these visits. They are life-giving (often life-saving!). I don’t always look forward to them (I regret to say) because I struggle with receiving correction (thanks to abusive parents). But I CRAVE His Presence. While I love my solitude and privacy, I love my time with Him even more! It is during these times He and I share together that we get to know one another more intimately. I find out things I do that He doesn’t like, I find out things He wants me to do for Him, and He finds out things I enjoy doing, He discovers my likes and dislikes. That sounds weird to say, doesn’t it? He finds out things about me? He created me! Yet His rebuke at the throne is I never knew you – not you didn’t know Me.
Our time with the Lord is a courtship. I knew a guy in the military years ago that spoke of Christ as a lover. Not in a weird way, but a very intimate way. He KNEW Jesus in a way I couldn’t fathom. It made me very uncomfortable at the time. To allow Jesus into my life as deeply as he had scared me because I was DEFINITELY not living in line with God’s desire at the time. Yet God has revealed to me over the years that this is exactly what He wants! He wants to know all about me. He wants to know my hurts, my pains, my sorrows, my fears, my everything. He already knows I can sing – I have let Him see that. He already knows about other talents I have – I have let Him see those and use those. But it’s the ugly parts of me He wants to know all about – the parts I hide even from my closest earthly friends. He wants all of me. And you.
How about you, my friend? Have you so opened your heart to Him that He KNOWS you at that level? What are you afraid to tell Him about yourself? Are you afraid He will reject you like others have in the past if He finds out? This relationship with Jesus isn’t a Master/Slave relationship (although it is often referred to by Paul in those terms), it isn’t a relationship of a worm before it’s Creator, it isn’t an abusive relationship. Jesus offers you the purest, most loving, caring relationship you can ever know. And only when He finds out where you hurt can He heal those hurts. Only when He knows what weaknesses you have can He begin to strengthen those areas and make you whole. He comes not as a tyrant, but as a Friend. He comes as One Who truly cares about you.
When Jesus comes knocking at your heart please open the door – dirty dishes and all. Let Jesus walk through your house and your heart. Let Him see you for who you are – nothing withheld. Only then can you and He have a love that transcends any love you have ever known. Only then can you be assured He will not turn you away at the Throne. Only then can you know the peace He gives that passes all understanding, and only then will He begin to open up and reveal Himself completely to you. Do it today. Do it now.
Be blessed.
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