Who's knocking at the door?

“Behold I stand at the door and knock.” I have always loved this image of Christ. Not pushing, not forcing entry. Just knocking. Taking the initiative and then waiting.

The rest of the verse says, “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.”

The ball is in our court. Do we want to hear Christ knocking? Because if we want to, we will. It can be a scary thought, or a very cool thing, because if we open the door, Christ invites himself to dinner. What then? How ready are we for that?


Some Christians interpret this literally, as Jesus personally standing at the door of our house and knocking.

My sense of it is more as a mental and spiritual persistence. It’s God, Allah, whatever your name for the Creator, inviting our attention. Eager for an amazing dinner conversation. With us. Why? That’s what we want to know. Why with us? It’s totally humbling to contemplate.

I think it’s to help us understand our purpose. Our Maker wants each of us to know how loved we are, how cared for, valued, esteemed even. Well, that makes so much sense. It’s easier to love others when we feel loved. It’s easier to be generous and patient, when we feel loved.

And, those conversations are on-going. It's our nature to want to know how much God loves us, how we relate to God as children to a Father or Mother. We can answer the door and invite Christ in any time. When we’ve absorbed all we can for the moment, the conversation ends. When we have more questions, when we’re ready to let our thought expand to discover more of God’s love in our lives, we hear that knocking and open that door.

In today’s multi-tasking world, how refreshing to look forward to a one-on-one focused conversation with the Designer of the universe.

What's it been like for you to hear Christ knocking at your thought?