Welcoming The Wonderful One
“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 (KJV)
Back in 1985 I found myself in a country and providence with which I was very unfamiliar. As an aspiring professional athlete, God by His sovereign grace had secured me a roster spot with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The name Saskatchewan was not a household name for a guy from Griffin, Georgia. Adjusting to an unfamiliar atmosphere, culture and a climate that polar bears would praise in late fall was definitely a daunting task! Welcoming the extreme weather and playing football on what seemed to be a frozen planet was not what I had anticipated. I should have read the fine print: “CFL players will be practicing and playing in Popsicle conditions!”
However, it was the wonderful, warm welcoming from my church family in Saskatchewan that prevented my heart from being frozen from fellowship! The body of Christ there received me as their own and loved on me with their meals and ministry of the Word of God. Here I was, an outsider knocking on the door for fellowship, and they open up doors of love and support and discipleship. Here's my question: when the Lord Jesus knocks on your heart for relationship and fellowship do you leave Him out in the cold?
In Revelation 3:20, the Lord Jesus Christ is pictured as standing outside and knocking on a door, desiring to enter into a home. Initially you might think that this verse applies only to the unsaved and represents Jesus Christ initiating a saving relationship with someone. However, the appeal of Jesus Christ at the door applies to both the sinner and the saint. What an incredibly rich and deep thought to process: God, dressed in humanity, desires to dine with us! He is very interested in participating in a personal, intensely intimate and eternal relationship with us! Furthermore, to those that respond individually to the invitation, it is a perpetual promise! Consider the following Scriptures:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (KJV)
“Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:24 (KJV)
“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven.” Luke 6:23 (KJV)
Christ promises to give you the right to be called His son or daughter, to bless you with an inheritance that will never diminish or lose its luster as well as the right to share His victory and rewards! Where else can you expect to receive such an offer? All that is required to receive these abundant gifts is that you welcome the Lord in your heart. He prefers to live in your heart over living in the edifice of a church. Let’s purpose to make our hearts His home!
For the Glory of God,
PBKSR