I have heard it said:
”
He is no fool who gives up that which he does not own and cannot
hope to keep, to get that which he cannot lose.
”
Jesus is knocking
– right now – on the door of your life, you can hear Him
knocking if you want to, and it’s entirely up to you to open the
door, or leave it closed.
I have heard it said: “He is no fool who gives up that which he does not own and cannot hope to keep, to get that which he cannot lose.”
Jesus is knocking – right now – on the door of your life, you can hear Him knocking if you want to, and it’s entirely up to you to open the door, or leave it closed. And until we answer, He is always still there, knocking, and waiting. Jesus doesn’t come to our lives just knock once, either. He keeps on knocking. Even if we have already let Him in once, He seems to keep on knocking just to help us remember to keep listening for Him – and remembering to let Him in.
There are times when all of us prefer to leave the door shut, or to close it up tight once having opened it. It makes things seem easier. It may or may not be a matter of sin; sometimes it’s just hard to admit we need to reopen our lives to God – again and again. It’s hard to admit that although forgiven, we are continually in need of forgiveness. Being truly human frankly means that when we think we have finally gotten our lives together, we will discover that ever-present spiritual fact that we still have a way to go. It’s the hardest part of discipleship to accept at times, but once we wrap our lives around it – our lifelong need for both Jesus and His forgiveness – it is quite comforting.
It’s just like any other journey. We get on the road, and start to think we are almost to our destination, only to find that there are may miles yet to go. Perhaps that is why so many of us prefer not to admit to our fearfully frail humanity, even after we have become Christians.
We are tempted to deal with this any number of ways. We fill our lives with noise and activity so we can’t hear His warnings, advice, and counsel – especially His warnings. Because if we did hear Him – still knocking – we are aware – deep down – that we may have to discover (and then give up) a few more of those things that are still holding us back from really following Him.
After all, to follow Jesus we have to give up a lot: loneliness, fearfulness, and anxiety among other things. But, the most difficult is to give up being in charge of things we haven’t the expertise, the power, the vision, or even the authority to fix.
Being a Christian is more than a one time choice. It is a lifetime of choosing and re-choosing to follow Jesus. The world continually reasserts itself, even with the believer. And when it does we need, again to let Him in.
Do you hear Him knocking?
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is located at 651 Broadway, Gilroy. For information, call (408) 842-4415.
