“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:21).
I am not the best housekeeper. It’s not that our small home is filthy, but mostly cluttered, still, I’m embarrassed to have anyone come in. Shoes kicked off in the living room, my crocheting projects and books piled on the table, my husband’s college football devotion adorning the room. Suffice to say, I’ll never be featured in the home issue of Southern Living. I’ve decided to get a porch swing and chairs to keep on the front porch to visit with folks and keep them from seeing the inside. Heaven help me if they need to use the bathroom!
As much as I want to hide my messy home from others, I sometimes want to hide my messy life from Jesus. Maybe you can relate. We tend to welcome Him as far as the front porch, but we really don’t want to invite Him in. “Now Jesus, just sit down right here; I’ll give you the swing, it’s so comfortable, and I’ll bring a glass of sweet tea right out to You, then we can ‘visit’!” I’ll even go the extra mile and bring out some of those cookies I’ve been hiding from the rest of the family – it is Jesus after all! Anything to keep Him outside – to keep Him from seeing the clutter, the dust and the unswept floors.
Here’s the problem with that – our key verse says that unless we open the door to Jesus and allow Him entry into our lives – yes our messy, un-Jesus-looking lives – we don’t really have a relationship that will sustain us. Tea and cookies on the front porch won’t feed our hungry souls. Jesus desires a full, deep and abiding relationship with you and me. The kind of relationship that dips into the same dish together and shares, not just a meal, but our hearts.
What will He think when He steps over the threshold and enters our tattered, cluttered, dirt-encrusted lives? What will he say about the dust on our Bible and the stack of fashionable clothes piled up on the chair from which we said we’d pray every morning? How can we ever explain to Him the mud and the muck that has crept into our hearts? I cringe with anxiety and hang my head in shame just thinking about all the junk and trash He will have to walk over to sit at the table of my life so we can eat together.
But here’s what I know about my Jesus – wherever He is allowed to enter, He brings His transforming power with Him. Somehow, when His feet step over the welcome mat of our heart, His robes sweep away the dirt and dust. He brings with Him the cleansing we so desperately need. By His blood we are washed, and, to our astonishment, our hearts become pure and fit for the presence of a King – King Jesus. I believe as He nears the table, which has suddenly been laden with the richest feast you could ever imagine, He pulls out a chair – for you – and bids you come and dine with Him.
Oh my friend, Jesus does not come to condemn you for the state of your heart. He does not glare at the mess in your life and order you to clean yourself up before He will come in. He comes to make you clean, to make you whole; to transform you heart, your life and your world into a place of order and beauty. Do you hear Him knocking? Won’t you let Him move from the front porch and into your heart?
Dear Lord Jesus, I hear you knocking at the door of my heart. My life is in such disarray Jesus, will You come in with Your cleansing power and make my heart Your home? Come and be Messiah over my messy life. Amen.
Deeper Roots 