When God Comes Knocking ~ Valerie Ronald

                                                                            

                                                                      copyright Warner Press, Inc

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20 NKJV)  

The classic depiction of Jesus knocking on a door, painted by Warner Sallman, is rich with symbolism. Its subject is based on Revelation 3:20, in which Christ addressed the lukewarm church in Laodicea. This verse is also an illustration of Christ’s invitation to us to open our heart’s door and let Him in. In the painting, thorny brambles represent sin reaching to entangle, and an opening in the door reveals darkness within, yet allows the one inside to see who is at the door. More subtle is the absence of any outside knob or handle, indicating that the door of the heart must be opened to Christ from within. He will not force His way inside. Yet He continues to stand at the door˗˗knocking, announcing His presence, waiting for our hearts to open to Him so we can have close communion together.

This painting resonates with me because I’ve always been fascinated with doors. I see a door as having a face, a visage, which either beckons to be opened or keeps secrets locked up behind it. I collect pictures of doors because they engage my imagination with their possibilities.

Think of the symbolism of doors in well-known children’s literature. Behind a simple wardrobe door, three children discover the magical world of Narnia, in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and become royalty in that kingdom. In The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett tells of a concealed door to a hidden garden providing a portal to healing and restoration. And with the sharp rap of a wizard’s staff on the round, green door of his hobbit hole, Bilbo Baggins is whisked away on a journey beyond his imagination, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

Doors represent new possibilities, thresholds to adventure, and sometimes long-kept secrets. When someone knocks on a closed door, they are never certain what will be revealed upon opening. I have stood before many symbolic doors in my lifetime, facing the unknown beyond. One thing I have learned is that not every door is meant to be opened.

In my childhood, my heart yielded readily to the gentle knock of Jesus Christ, offering His gift of salvation. But that door swung in the breeze between my selfish pursuits and the false idea that I could nip through it anytime I needed some help. By my own strength I wrenched open the door to an unsuitable marriage, even though a “Do Not Enter” sign was clearly posted. Many times I wanted to retrace my steps, but now I see that painful journey was meant to bring me to another threshold, the place where I not only opened the door wider, I bowed in surrender before the Lord of Glory, who had never ceased knocking. When I truly welcomed Christ into all aspects of my life, it was as if a fresh breeze swept through the open door of my heart, redeeming all the messes I had made. 

In my youth I heard the insistent knocking of what turned out to be a calling to write. I did not recognize it as a calling then˗˗I thought it was just something I enjoyed doing. Not until later, when He sought me out at my heart’s door, did I realize that it was a gift meant to glorify the Giver.

Christ not only comes knocking at our door, He also instructs us to ask, seek and knock ourselves.  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7-8 NIV)  

Jesus’ instructions do not mean we can demand from God whatever we want. Within the context of the Sermon on the Mount, He is telling us the help we need to carry out its imperatives must be asked for and will be supplied by our Father in heaven. His door is always unlocked for those who believe. Beyond the opened door are resources Christian writers are privileged to access by asking, seeking, and knocking. Our writing life needs to be intrinsically reliant on the guidance of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit if our words are to impact others for His kingdom.

Like a house with many rooms, our heart has multiple doors, some we may be reluctant to open to Jesus. He knocks because He desires to bring His fresh, cleansing presence into that closed-up room, but He will never push in. When we respond to His knock by opening the door, He promises us warm fellowship with Him, like family around the dinner table˗˗a beautiful picture of union with our Savior. 

Valerie Ronald writes from an old roll top desk in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, with her tortoiseshell cat for a muse. A graduate of Langara College School of Journalism, she writes devotionals, fiction and inspirational prose. Her purpose in writing is to encourage others to grow in their spiritual walk.