By this time, many places in our world have started to open up their businesses, people are no longer staying home as much, and circumstances are beginning to change, at least a little bit.  Some places and people have been under very strict stay-at-home orders, and there have even been some protests seeking government officials to relax executive orders.  There are some people who have not been out of their home at all during the covid-19 pandemic, and they are definitely ready for things to “open up” and for life to return to some semblance of normality.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible speak of a far more serious situation in which people personally need to “open up”, and we can read about it in Revelation 3:20.  In Revelation 2 and 3, the apostle John is writing a series of letters to seven churches in Asia Minor.  Verse 20 is part of a letter he wrote to the church in Philadelphia, and in this verse, he is quoting what Jesus had to say to this church.

        What Jesus had to say is a very familiar offer which applied not only to the church in Philadelphia, but applies to all people of all time.  Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If any one hears my voice, and opens the door, I come in to him, and will eat with him, and he will eat with me.”  This verse is featured in a painting by William Holman Hunt, and it was entitled “The Light of the World”.  In the painting, Jesus is carrying a lantern and is shown knocking at a door with no handle on the outside.  The door is overgrown with weeds, and the nails and hinges are rusted, suggesting that the door has never been opened.

        The message of the painting is that it is up to the person on the other side of the door to open the door to allow Jesus to enter.  Millions of people have seen the painting, and it went on a world tour from 1905 to 1907.  It now hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and it is considered to be “the most traveled art work in history”.  The painting is actually a larger version of the original painting, and was completed many years after the original.

        Since Jesus can be everywhere at once through His Holy Spirit, He is able to knock on the door of every person ever born into this world.  The door on which He knocks is the door of our heart, and He depends on people to open the door of their hearts from the inside. 

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.