27 June 2007 Devotion for Today "Knocking on the Door" Matthew 7:7-11

27 June 2007  Devotion for Today  “Knocking on the Door”  Matthew 7:7-11

 

Devotional passage:  Matthew 7:7-11

 

For many years I have been amused by the story of the pastor Story of a pastor who went calling on a woman who had not been in church in some time.  He came to the door of the woman’s house and knocked.  No one answered, so he knocked again.  It appeared that there was someone home, her automobile was in the driveway and there seemed to be lights on inside.  So the preacher knocked again.    No one answered again, so he decided to leave his business card in the door, with this inscription written on it  “Sorry I missed you- “behold I stand at the door and knock” Rev. 3:20.”  The following Sunday, the woman showed up in the service.  When the offering plate was passed, she slipped into it this note She wrote- “ I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:10!”

Knock and it will be opened   Then there is knocking- knock and the door will be opened.  Again this is a continuous action.  Keep on knocking. Keep on banging away on the door until it is answered. Story of a pastor who came to the door of a woman’s house- “behold I stand at the door and knock” Rev. 3:20 She wrote- “ I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:10

 

From its proper context, Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 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.”   Back in first century Palestine, they would construct homes with doors with handles on the inside, not on the outside.  So if you bolted the door on the inside, someone on the outside obviously could not get in unless he knocked on the door to be allowed access to the house.  If you open that door, you had better trust the person who is on the outside of it.  He wants you to be persistent enough so that your answered prayer matters to you as much as it matters to Him.   But what it comes down to is, prayer is trusting God. God wants you to be persistent enough so that your answered prayer matters to you as much as it matters to Him.  Knock and the door will be opened.  This is not just knocking once and then leaving.  Again this is a continuous action.  Keep on knocking. Keep on banging away on the door until it is answered.

            They say that opportunity only knocks once.  Jesus knocks continually, and shows by His example that if we are to live by faith, we need to be persistent in the exercise of our faith- especially in our prayer life.  If there is a door that is closed, it doesn’t mean necessarily that it is closed in order for you to be disappointed.  But are you as serious about opening it as your Savior is?

            Have a blessed day.

 

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

 

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