“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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:20-21 KJV)
What a beautiful passage! It reveals a great deal of openness and truth about how close our real answer is. It focuses on our need to listen for His voice. It tells us to also be open to letting Him in. Wait a minute… Letting Him in? Who could possibly be cold enough to ignore Him and not answer His call? Unfortunately, it would appear all to many. Even worse, this was not written to the converts already on the street; it is written to a church! The church of the Laodiceans to be exact, but not that different from some we currently know in that they considered themselves rich. Not that richness is bad in and of itself, but that it kept them luke warm. It is an attitude of being guarded. Unlike the previous church of Philadelphia which was given “an open door, and no man can shut it” this church seems to have built it’s own door that Jesus must knock on and call out from behind that it might be opened. Quite the opposite side of the door as those in Matthew 7 who knock that there may be an open door.
In the big picture of this book, notice that Jesus speaks to the churches first. Long before the stops are pulled out and much greater judgments are poured out, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3:19 KJV) The church gets the first chance to cease and desist management practices and refresh themselves with the value of humility and surrender. They are not able to have the closeness of a meal with Jesus until they learn to open the door which they (not there enemies) constructed. The process of opening a door for Jesus is a process where we must learn that He and His ways are greater than ours. It is one thing to have a door for protection. It is a greater thing to know that what we are protecting is far less in value than the One who wants to come in and show us real gold. While closed doors seal off traffic and make the room stagnant, an open door to Jesus must remain open for all that He brings and the freedom within His Spirit. Our plans may seem to have four squared corners like a refined rectangle; His plans are a perfect square. Our plans may seem to have made a perfect circle; His make a perfect sphere. When Jesus brings new and fresh things, do not make the mistake of rejecting them because they do not always acknowledge the greatness of your molds. He makes far greater things and then breathes life into them! Remember, these blessings are for the one who overcomes, not for the one who helps guard the fort.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV)