Day 186, Year 1

Is There a Way In?

Jesus said, “… If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him….” (Revelation 3:20b NASB)

When Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts, and we willingly open it, He will come into us. In fact, God initially created humans for His dwelling. However, soon after Adam and Eve sinned, His Spirit left all human races (Genesis 6:3). When Jesus wants to enter into human hearts again, He chooses a very gentle, polite, and even courteous way to knock on the doors of our hearts. He indeed has unusual patience.

When a person willingly opens his or her door for the Lord Jesus, He will “come in to him.” The Lord desires to enter into people’s hearts. However, as mentioned earlier, even after Jesus enters into us, He needs to “compete” with different things within us. Indeed, in the subjective experience of many people, Jesus appears to be so small, weak, and slow in His actions. Nevertheless, in today’s verse, Jesus clearly has His own wishes for us. Just as the choice to obey God’s will as revealed in the Bible ultimately determines our eternal fate, so does the decision to consistently let His will be done in and through us determine whether we can continue to hear His voice and have communion with Him forever.

Knowing the will of the Lord Jesus and subsequently making every effort to change ourselves to fulfill His will—this is true humility. We who steadfastly follow the intentions of the Lord are truly humble, enabling us to receive His outpouring grace and ultimately be saved. Indeed, we need to always follow God’s wishes instead of our own in order to truly belong to Him. While God’s will can be easily accomplished in heaven, fulfilling His will among His people requires our cooperation. The Scripture, from beginning to end, illustrates how human collaboration with God’s work brings about His greater works in us. The word “cooperation” might not be accurate enough; a more precise term is desire and obedience. We need to desire to obey Jesus’ will and act steadfastly and wisely so as to truly receive His perfect will among us.

Today’s verse seems to tell us that the Lord Jesus is very willing to enter into people’s lives. How about you? Are you willing to let Him in, or do you want Jesus to stand alone outside of your heart’s door?

Reflection questions:

1) Why do you think the Lord Jesus often chooses to appear so small and weak before people?

2) Are you willing to always give way to the will of the Lord Jesus in all your decisions? Why?