Knock, Knock. Who's There

Knock, Knock. Who's There?
July 6, 2009
Rev 3:20 "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 him, and he with me."

I was out of town this past weekend and staying in the same city where the richest man in the world lives. Having studied and read about him since I was a teenager, I decided to see where he resides. Upon arriving at his unassuming residence, my boldness overcame me and I approached the front door of his house. Not seeing any "No Trespassing" signs, I went ahead with a knock, knock, despite not having a scripted idea of what I might say. A burly bodyguard quickly came running from the side of the house and questioned my presence on the property. After realizing that my credentials didn't warrant a visit, the guard kindly asked me to leave, as the Richest Man did not accept visitors, even though he was home.

It's funny how the richest man in the world doesn't want to meet me, but the Richest Man in the universe desires my attention everyday. God is not like the man with the bodyguard, keeping visitors at bay. God stands at my door, knock, knocking. In fact, scriptures says that He stands outside knocking, saying, "Here I am!" He doesn't just wait to see if I'll answer the door when He visits, He stands there calling to me. Scripture uses an exclamation point on the sentence, indicating that God is - more like - yelling for me. Even though the original translation of the Bible didn't contain much punctuation, if any, the words do translate like a loud calling out.

This is not a one-time deal, either. The original verbiage in Scripture indicates that it is an ongoing activity for God. God stands at your door, every day of your life, wanting to spend time with you, yelling for you. Even though you may have opened the door for Him once, He wants you to open the door for Him EVERY day of your life. God wants to spend time with you. He desires to come in to your life everyday and fill it with His presence. But He will not force it upon you; He is a gentleman. He waits for your response. He waits for you to hear his voice and open the door. You must invite Him in.

The problem is, we are so busy with life and are so guarded against being vulnerable, that we can't hear God calling for us, knocking on our door. Life seems less complicated if we don't pay attention to the knocking on our door, as we have so many more 'important' things to do than see who is standing out there begging to spend time with us. We engulf ourselves in our own importance and miss out on a great opportunity to spend time with someone who actually cares. Christian, God is standing at your door, begging to spend time with you, only you didn't answer the door today.

1. What does God's knocking sound like?
2. How can you attune your heart to hear Him knocking?
3. What can you do to spend time with Him every day?

Add. Scriptures for Study: Ps 53:2, Song of Solomon 5:2, Jer 29:13, Matt 7:8, Acts 17:27