Jesus has and always will desire to talk with you. It’s up to you to respond. This desire is depicted in the book of Revelation: “Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear My voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with Me” (Revelation 3:20 TPT).
Brian Simmons, writer of The Passion Translation Bible, adds in the footnotes of this Scripture, “The Aramaic can be translated, ‘I have been standing at the door, knocking.’ Jesus knocking on the door points us to the process of an ancient Jewish wedding invitation. In the days of Jesus, a bridegroom and his father would come to the door of the bride-to-be carrying the betrothal cup of wine and the bride-price. Standing outside, they would knock. If she fully opened the door, she was saying, ‘Yes, I will be your bride.’ Jesus and His Father, in the same way, are knocking on the doors of our hearts, inviting us to be the bride of Christ.”
Did you catch that? Jesus and the Father are knocking on the door of our heart, inviting us to be the bride of Christ. The position of a bride is exclusive, which includes benefits that are unavailable to any other type of relationship. For each of us to access these benefits exclusive to the bride of Christ, our hearts must be open to hear His voice, and we must open the door within and give Him access.
The Lord is a gentleman, and He will not force Himself upon you. He has already chosen you. Will you choose Him?
The reason Jesus knocks is because He desires intimacy with you. The fact that He’s knocking indicates you’re being pursued. As He knocks, He waits to be wanted. Sadly, with many of us, we keep Him waiting. I want you to notice that Jesus is addressing a church, not unbelievers. Jesus won’t settle for being a stoic, absent husband—He wants to be close with you. Again, this is why He knocks.
I have found that the door that separates us from hearing God’s voice is distraction. Distraction comes in many forms, but the most common is busyness. Think about this: we often ignore God’s knock on our heart because we are distracted with other things—social media, apps, TV shows, side hustles, projects, ministry activities, and so on. Alarmingly, according to comScore’s 2017 Cross Platform Future in Focus report, the average American adult (18+) spends 2 hours and 51 minutes on their smartphone every day. That’s about 86 hours a month!
In the midst of all the competing voices, has God’s voice become silenced?
At this juncture, I think it’s wise to heed Paul’s warning: “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God” (Romans 13:11 MSG).
Jesus is knocking. It’s time you invite Him in and close the door on distraction!
