Letting In the Light — A LifeWords Devotion

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (NLT)

This well-known verse has been understood to suggest that an unbeliever needs to open the door of their lives to Jesus, who wants to come into their lives. There may be some truth in that, but the verse in its context means something quite different.

Those words were directed to a group of believers who were lukewarm in their faith. Jesus is wanting them to invite him to enjoy a deeper relationship with him. It is as if they are living in a gloomy, dimly lit room. He wants to come in and bring some light and life into it.

Those who are afflicted with depression or fear or just plain melancholy tend to see their shadowy state as the final reality. Jesus wants to shed some light amidst the gloom, he wants to clear the musty air of despair. He wants to make the room more liveable.

Inviting him in doesn’t mean we bid farewell to all sadness or worry. It is just that when we let him in, he enjoys our company, and is with us irrespective of circumstances. He hasn’t come for a brief chat, or to bark out harsh instructions, or to give us some faith formula that spells instant success on all fronts. He has come to live our lives with him as friends.

And he won’t just barge in uninvited. He does the knocking, but we have to do the door opening. If we so choose, we can stay in our darkened room. But he goes on knocking, longing to bring some of his special light into our lives, longing for that opening door.