The other day I made mention of some verses in Matthew. They are part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount.
“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks…11 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.” Matthew 7:7-8, 11 CEV
Jesus said that the Father is ready to give us good things when we ask. He isn’t an evil or angry Father. He’s a good Father and He loves his children. He says ask for what we need, search for the things of value and knock on doors that we need opened.
The image I am using with this morning’s blog is a modern adaptation of several paintings that were done in the early 1900’s. I’m sure you’ve all probably seen one of those. It’s a picture of Jesus standing at the door to home knocking.
The artist based the picture on a verse from the book of Revelation.
“Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.” Revelation 3:20 CEV
In these verses, Jesus is speaking to Christians who hearts have grown cold. They are people who had a strong relationship with the Lord at one time but life got busy, worries increased, too many cares and distractions and as Jesus said they were now lukewarm in their love for Him.
Here Jesus is repeating the message of knocking, only this time it’s not us doing the knocking but it’s Him.
He spoke those words ” Knock, and the door will be opened for you.”, and now He’s knocking. He is putting His Father’s promise into practice. Jesus doesn’t want to lose relationship with any of those He loves.
He pursues us with a loving heart.
“ Then Jesus told them this story :4 If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won’t you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? 5 And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder 6 and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, “Let’s celebrate! I’ve found my lost sheep.” Matthew 15:3-6 CEV
I, for one, am glad that Jesus came looking for me when I had closed the door to my heart. He didn’t give up on me, He kept knocking on my door until I opened it and our relationship was restored. His love for me had never grown cold even though mine had.
Now, the door is no longer closed. It’s always open to Him and His leading.
If you’ve closed the door to a daily relationship with the Lord I encourage you to open your heart. You’ll find Him knocking, waiting there for you to open the door and He will come in for fellowship.