Christ At Heart's Door

Did ever wonder what’s on the other side of the door? Who lives there? What’s it like on the inside? There are some clues in the picture. It’s nighttime but there’s no light on. Darkness fills the heart. Jesus stands at that door and knocks.

There are more clues. Briars and thorns have overgrown the walk. Jesus likened such weeds to the cares and anxieties of this life. This life has more than its share. Look overhead. A bird has made a nest above the door. That doesn’t happen where there is lots of coming and going. I wonder if many visitors come to this door. It doesn’t look like it. At first glance, this looks like a lonely life with a lot of darkness and cares. Still he comes.

Behold I stand at the door and knock. No amount of sin or personal problems can keep the savior of souls from walking through the darkness and cares right up to the door of a broken heart, knocking, and waiting.

Perhaps the most striking part of the text is the invitation. Christ doesn’t just knock once and walk away. He knocks, leans close to listen for a response, and then calls out. “Open. I will come in and we will eat together.” He doesn’t come to lecture and scold. He comes with forgiveness and fellowship. To the ancients breaking bread together was a symbol of friendship and peace. The prince of peace stands and knocks.

You do know that we each have a heart. The heart has a door. The Lord of Glory knocks, knocks again and again, asking for us to open and let him in so we can have sweet fellowship together. Have you heard him knock? You might not always have recognized his knock. Those good times of laughter and joy, those blessings you didn’t expect—those may well have been a gentle reminding of how good it could be all of the time with Christ in the heart of your life. Even those tough times could have been a wake-up call from Heaven. They could have been the savior calling for your attention, pleading with you to let him in so he could put things right. Scripture says the Lord never leaves himself without a testimony in anyone’s life. He is always knocking. He is knocking on your life.

Some have pointed to another fact about the picture and our text. This door shows no outer latch. The principle is true whether the artist intended it in the picture or not. Christ never forces himself into any life, not yours, not mine. If we are to have fellowship with the Savior, we must open. He knocks, listens, and waits. He waits for us to open. Have you? Are you?

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More often than not, preachers use this text and painting to illustrate the Savior’s invitation to those who have not yet accepted him. It pictures the opportunity, so we are told, to open their lives, receive and believe the Gospel, and become personal followers of Jesus. This is a good illustration of that. However, that’s not the message of our text.

Remember this is the part of the last letter to the last of the seven churches of Revelation. In reality, this text addresses Christians, not unbelievers. It is a call for believers who have professed their faith in Christ but whose relationship has grown cold and distant. Every time believers see this picture, they should take stock of their relationship with Christ. We need to ask, even though I believe in Jesus, have I somehow left him standing outside the door of my life while he really wants to come in and live it with me? There is a difference!