A reflection on discipleship
Some of us might have the experience of having an uninvited guest appearing at our doorstep when we are at home. Most of us hate such surprises. We'd rather the guest inform us earlier of the intended visit. The guest might catch us at the wrong time when we are busy, or that we are not dressed appropriately, or our houses are in a messy state, or we are simply hoping to chill and be undisturbed on a weekend afternoon. So we felt inconvenienced and struggle to show impromptu hospitality.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20
In Rev 3:20, there is no indication of a formal invitation or a pre-arranged appointment, rather Christ simply appears at the doorstep and knock!
When Christ comes and knock at my door without an appointment, what will I do?
Will I miss His knocking? Will I be able to hear His voice calling out? Will I be too pre-occupied with my life that I cannot hear the knocks or His voice?
Or
Will I ignore Him? Will I play dead? Will I be unwilling to receive Him because He has caught me at the wrong time? Will I feel inconvenienced?
We know that receiving an uninvited guest into our home impromptu means allowing the guest to disrupt our daily routine and having to reorientate our time around the guest.
Likewise, when Christ comes knocking suddenly at the door of our heart, we feel His intrusiveness and we hate it. We hate to be interrupted, to be disturbed, having to reorganise. We want to be in status quo. We don't want to change.
His intrusive knocks may come in times of crisis when we are bend to do what that is not according to His design and will. At that critical moment, we may be too caught up with our own thoughts that we cannot hear His voice and fail to allow His divine interruption to keep us away from the wrong path. Or we may hear His gentle voice, but ignore it because we know He will interrupt our preferred plans and we don't want Him to.
However His intrusive knocks may also come in times of peace when we feel we are cruising along. We may be doing well in our life, having a stable job, a nice home and family, attending church regularly and tithe faithfully. Then out of sudden, Christ comes along and knock at our door, wanting to awake us from our lukewarmness and spiritual slumber. We play dead. We close our ears and let Him pass us by. We think we have orientated our life enough for Him, and we do not want Him to ask for more. We want to remain in our status quo, we want to remain in our comfort zone.
The promise: "...if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me"
The promise for those who would hear His voice and open the door is that an intimate communion with Christ awaits them.
It is interesting to note that the verse begins with Christ coming to dine with the host ("dine with him"), but ends with the host dining with Him ("he with Me"). There is a transition that has taken place. Christ becomes the host. He becomes the provider of the hospitality.The lordship and ownership of one's life is transferred to Christ.
This then is Christianity. Letting Christ be Lord of our lives.