Corona Devo 99

Have you ever memorized a Bible verse?  Besides John 3:16?

My (amazing!) husband has most of the Bible on mental card-catalog in his beautiful brain.  If you say a book of the Bible and verse (ex. Psalm 37:4), he spends few seconds computing, and out comes the verse.(!)  

His memorization skills are excellent.  They are something I am terrible at.

I have a (very) few verses committed to memory, but as I read the Bible this morning I was touched not only by this verse and its meaning, but also by God's reminder to me of how I came to memorize it.   

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 3:20

It's such a great verse!  Spoiler alert--it's not really about Jesus knocking on our front door and asking for supper.  It is an image of Jesus always standing near to us, knocking on our hearts.  Waiting for us to open the door to Him.  To let Him in on our plans, our days, our to-do lists and our lives.  

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  ~Revelation 3:20   In one sense, this door invites any of us (and ALL of us!) to accept Jesus into our hearts and lives.  In another sense, this verse is a fresh reminder that even if we have given ourselves to Jesus--we all have areas that we have reassumed control over.  Jesus is knocking on those doors that we have closed-off to Him.  He can heal our hurts and direct our steps if we give Him access to all of our doors. 

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door... ~Revelation 3:20  It sounds very simple, but these two things are not.  Hearing God's voice takes participation.  We have to actually stop running around for a few minutes to sit and be still with God and the Bible in order to hear His voice.  That's asking a lot.  Sometimes I think one of the purposes of Corona was to stop all of our running around and to slow down and to come back to Jesus.  He has been standing at some of our doors knocking for quite some time now.

The other thing about hearing God's voice: is that some of us do not want to.  We have a sense of what the Lord is speaking into our hearts--about a choice that needs to be made/or a relationship/etc. ...and we are covering our ears.  We do not want to hear God's direction because it is contrary to our preferences.  

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door... ~Revelation 3:20  Opens the door.  This is where things begin to change and God begins to work.  If we open the door to His leading, to His acceptance of us, to His love for us.  If we open the door of our hearts to Jesus Christ and all that He has for our lives.  It is "immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20), but we must first open the door to Him.  

I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.  ~Revelation 3:20  The minute we open the door to Him, the Lord joins us. There are no prerequisites or tests to pass.  Jesus is with us the moment we ask Him to be.  And for someone like me, who enjoys food and desserts very much--I appreciate the reference to eating together.  Jesus likens our relationship with Him to sharing a meal together.  There is a companionship and comaraderie in eating together with someone.  We let down barriers and establish trust and intimacy around the table for a meal.  There is an intimacy in asking someone into your home and cooking for them.  Jesus desires that intimacy with us.  We can let our guard down and be real with Him at the table.  In fact, only by getting real with Jesus and ourselves can we make any progress in our walk of faith with Him.  

This little verse packs a big punch, and we can apply it on many levels to our lives and our relationship with Jesus too.  But God was also placing a challenge on the table for me when I read it today, and I extend it to you as well.

I memorized this verse over 25 years ago on a Saturday morning in a McDonald's.  For a few years while I was in high school, a lady from my church would meet with me on Saturday mornings at McDonald's to talk with me about life, encourage me in my faith, and she would give me a Bible verse to memorize.  The funny thing is, I can't remember her name or even her face, but I remember her talking to me about what Revelation 3:20 meant.  And I still have it memorized today.  Because someone took the time to explain it to me.  And let me back up--because someone took the time. 

She was probably a mom like I am.  She was probably busy and hectic and tired.  But she purposed the time and energy to meet with a high school girl that she didn't even know that well...and those Saturday mornings had an effect on my faith and my life.  

Who am I meeting with?  Who are you meeting with?  Faith doesn't just happen.  People don't really understand who Jesus is or how much He loves them until someone opens the door for them to see love lived out.  Sometimes God's love looks like an Egg McMuffin on a Saturday morning.  And it always looks like time invested in someone. 

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 3:20

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com/


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