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. Rev. 3:20
A friend reminded me of this verse and the famous painting of Jesus standing at the door to a house knocking. The original was painted by Holman Hunt and since that time, there have been many what I call “repaints”. Although there are many renditions that portray the symbols in the picture, the meaning is the same. All the pictures are inviting, with a warm light, vines or flowers growing up the wall and Jesus with a friendly, loving look on His face and Him knocking on a closed door. But the one thing every painter left out, is a doorknob.
When Holman was asked about the missing piece of the door that is so important, by a friend; his answer was “because the knob is inside, only you can open the door.” But so many just focus on that one aspect of the painting, when truly there is so much more going on. The closed door is representative of a closed mind and not having a relationship with Him. The light that surrounds Jesus reminds us He not only is the Light of the World, but that He brings the light we need to see Him and His ways clearly. The vines that look so beautiful and pleasing, actually are to show how we can easily get tangled up by the things of this world. It’s amazing how we can see so much more when we take the time to stop and study what we are looking at.
The way God still speaks to us is no different. If we just go hastily through a day, we will miss the subtle ways God is talking to us. We spend precious little time in His Word, just reading a verse or two, but not taking the time to study it. He places something in our day to slow us down, but we are so busy we blow it off and see it as a nuisance. Perhaps, He wants you to just know He’s there, but the best we can do is give Him our laundry list of requests and hurry off. How this must tug at His heart, because all He wants is to spend time with us. To have us come to Him not only when we need something, but also when we want nothing more than to just be in His presence. So how is God trying to get you to hear His voice? Are you willing to take some time every day just to say “Hello Abba, let’s talk” and then listen and hear that comforting voice that gives us peace beyond all understanding.
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