Insights

Reverend Dr. William H. Curtis

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Revelation 3:20 NIV

The thought of Jesus waiting at the door of our hearts, knocking and waiting to be let in, is spiritually breathtaking. The Lord and our Creator loves us so much that He approaches our closed space and instead of barging in, respects us enough to knock and waits at the door of our hearts.

This is all the strength of the Gospel brought to the doorstep of every human heart. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to seek and search for Him, and despite living lukewarm lives, Jesus comes knocking.

Jesus is never far off. He is always close enough that if you are listening and looking, you can hear and see that He is at your door. Even if you hesitate, Jesus is willing to knock again and again, waiting for you to open the door.

While one part of this verse is the stunning extension of grace and love, there is also the image of Jesus as a wandering seeker who only wants to be let in, even if it is to a half, cold-hearted life. If the door is open, He will come in, sit, and sup with us.

Jesus’ desire is to dine with us. He doesn’t come in to judge or correct or condemn us. He comes in to eat with us. However, it may be that the door to our hearts are locked from the inside, because we have set no table for Grace to stop by unannounced.  It is one thing to get your house in order when Jesus tells you that He’s coming. It is another to always be prepared for His knock at the door of our hearts.

We must be ready to set a table in our hearts.

The door to our hearts does not have a lock or latch from the outside, but only from the inside. We are the ones who open the doors to our hearts. So, to be prepared to unlock the door for Christ, we must be faithful in our prayers, disciplines, and what we allow to occupy our time and our minds. These things reflect our truest intentions. 

Faith helps us to respond to Jesus’ knock and voice by grabbing our intentions from the inside and deciding what we let pass through the door to our hearts. Faith opens the door to Jesus because what He brings always adds meaning and power to our lives.

If you struggle to open the door to Christ, ask yourself these questions:

What in this season has been your posture from the inside when you hear the knock of Jesus at the door of your heart?

How have you handled the unannounced knock at your door?

When he knocks, what has been your resistance?

Is it that you don’t really want to have a different perspective?

Are you afraid that when the Lord makes His way through that door that He will change you?