Open The Door
One of the most famous paintings of Christ shows him standing in a garden facing a large, wooden door.
Jesus is dressed in flowing robes, his long, curly hair cascading over his shoulders. There’s a look of eager anticipation in his eyes.
But there’s something funny about the door. It has no handle, keyhole, or other means of opening it. That’s because the painter was trying to illustrate the message of one of the most powerful verses of the New Testament.
This may sound like an invitation to a meal, but Jesus has more on his mind here than dinner and dessert.
The same man who used terms like living water to explain the work of the Holy Spirit also meant more by the word food than might seem obvious at first.
John, who wrote the Book of Revelation, shows us what Jesus meant in the fourth chapter of his Gospel, where Jesus tells a Samaritan woman, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
So when Jesus says he will come and eat with us, it probably means he will be sharing more than food with us. It means he will be sharing his life, which will enable us better to do his will.
Jesus wants us to open the door and invite him into our lives, but he’s a gentleman. He’s not going to barge in if we don’t really want him there. We need to ask him in.
The Book of Isaiah explores a similar theme. It describes God’s repeated attempts to reach out to the people of Israel.
It’s a sad and depressing story. Time after time, God rescued the people from their latest blunders.
Then, after a period of soul-searching and repentance, the people asked God to forgive them.
They rededicated themselves to faith and righteous living and promised that nothing like that would ever happen again.
But within a few pages or paragraphs, they were up to their old shenanigans once again. They turned their backs on God and experienced the natural consequences of such disobedience.
This goes on for sixty-six chapters. By the time I finish reading Isaiah, I feel a mix of frustration and hope.
There’s frustration because the book powerfully shows how stupid and mule-headed human beings can be. But there’s hope because God keeps trying new things to get our attention once again.
Some people question whether or not God exists, and at least part of their rationale comes from the fact that things on planet Earth never seem to get much better.
Sure, technology improves, but human nature stays the same, embroiling the globe in conflict and wars.
But such recurring problems shouldn’t be a cause for doubting God.
Rather, we should praise God for his steadfast commitment to us in the face of so much opposition and disobedience.
God’s arm isn’t short. He isn’t deaf to our cries. The problem is us and our repeated preference for our own ways over God’s way.
Only when we realize that and open the door to Jesus will we see the face of God in all its glory?
Father, please come into my life and make yourself at home in my heart.