Knock! Knock! Who's There?

Knock! Knock! Who’s There?

We have two children and they love “knock, knock jokes”. As you know these jokes take two people and both have to participate for the joke to work and be enjoyable. (Although, by the time my children are telling me the tenth plus joke, I am not finding them as cute and funny.)

Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. When I was growing up, I only heard this verse in the context of a salvation verse. In fact, this verse is directed to the saved, not the lost. Several words stand out to me in this verse and challenge me.

KNOCK OPENS COME DINE

When I focused on the word, “knock” in this verse. I realized two things; first, “knock” is an action verb. Second, to hear the knocking we have to be aware. Jesus Christ is not passive. He is action and demands action. This verse does not say He stands and waits quietly on my porch and hopes I will open the door and invite him in. He Knocks! He will do whatever He must do to get our attention. He will do whatever it takes to have a relationship with us. His knocking is his initiating a much desired relationship with you and me!

When I go to visit friends at their home, even if they know I am coming, I still knock. I would not just open the door… Jesus will knock, even though I expect His arrival, He still knocks. He doesn’t force Himself into my life… He respects my choice to answer His knock. I know that every day and I expect to have communication with my Savior every day. He still knocks.

Secondly, I need to be constantly aware of the knocking at the door of my heart. Sometimes, the busy-ness of our life can be so noisy that it drowns out the sound of Jesus’ knocking. Someone may be reading this and thinking I don’t hear Him anymore. Trust me, He is there. The challenge to us is why we don’t hear Him knocking. Awareness is important!

As a cancer survivor having been diagnosed with Melanoma over 6 years ago, I have learned the importance of awareness. I pay attention to my skin and I watch for anything that is unusual. This same keen awareness is critical to our relationship with Jesus Christ: pay attention and watch. Since He initiates by knocking, I must be aware of His imminent visit. This does not mean that my house has to be in order. This doesn’t mean that I have to be stressed that something may be out of order or messy. This only means that I am aware. The more time I spend with my Savior, the more comfortable I become, realizing that He loves me just the way I am.

My dearest friends have seen my house untidy. They have seen my house clean. They have seen laundry piled on my couch waiting to be folded. They have seen the dirty dishes and they have seen me dressed in my “yard clothes”, no make-up, and a bad hair day. I am confident in the relationship and I am comfortable in their presence.

Jesus does not knock with the intent to come in to your life and torture you with the “white glove test” He is ok with your mess. He knows we live in the world… He just asks that we are not of this world. In other words, He does not want us to use worldly philosophy and culture as a standard.

Be aware of His knock. Turn down the noise of your busy life so you can hear Him when He knocks. Relax, knowing that He does not want to come in and inspect your life; He wants to really spend time with you. He loves you and He anticipates a wonderful visit.