Greetings to you in the beautiful – wonderful – powerful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! I trust that all is well with you this morning and that the peace that passes all understanding is surrounding you. What a lovely morning – the beginning of a day that God has created for us…now we must decide whether or not we will choose to praise, to give thanks, to enjoy. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to let His wrap-around presence encourage you, strengthen you, and keep you healthy.
Yesterday in my devotions I came across an ‘old friend’ in the guise of a scripture verse. As I read and re-read it an interesting challenge presented itself. The verse is one of those verses we relegate to a particular context and application. The verse says…and I know that you know it well: Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears and opens the door I will come in and share my presence with him — Revelation 3:20. This verse has inspired one of the great works of art – Christ At The Door by Holman Hunt – a picture I am sure that you have seen. We usually reserve this verse for sharing with someone seeking a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
However, as I pondered the verse in it’s setting I saw something different. I was reminded of how we become affected by the struggles of life and how, when we can’t or don’t want to deal with an issue, we put it in a ‘room’ where we keep those parts of our life that we pretend aren’t there. Oddly enough that ‘room’ will only hold so much and gets a little crowded…and we get to a point where we understand that we must do something about that ‘room’. We have been believers for a while, we pray, we read the Bible, we have consumed a good variety books that give advice and counsel…and we think that we should be able to figure it out all by ourselves–but we cannot.
So, here comes the verse with it’s invitation … Jesus Christ, simply says…Behold, I am standing right here and I am knocking…I can help and I know how to help you. If you will invite me into your ‘room’ I will come in and my presence will so fill it that all the other inhabitants will have to move out. Well, that is how I understand it. I cannot handle the ‘room’ by myself…goodness know I have tried. I have prayed for God to take it away. I have read a dozen or so ‘how-to’ books. I have even asked others for help. No one seems to take away my ‘room’ … fortunately Jesus says that I don’t have to empty the ‘room’ because He will ‘come in’ ! Wow! this verse is for me and you, no matter how long we have known Jesus…He still wants access to our ‘room’.
Something to ponder … may you be blessed!