“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3;20

Christ is referring to His church that knows He's standing at the heart's door, but they will not rouse themselves from their spiritual lethargy to open it. By implication, they will not invite Him into their daily lives. As unbelievable as it sounds, there are still those in His church who will keep Him on the outside looking in!

But notice that Jesus used the word “if” to remind us that there is hope—hope that any of His followers can change and choose to open the door to Christ rather than ignore Him. Are we opening ourselves up to Christ so that our eternal relationship with Him can be bold and dynamic? God has given us everything we need to succeed in opening our heart’s door to His best.

So are we opening the door? Here are some easy tests:

Are we diligently praying, studying, meditating, fasting, and not allowing our deceitful and sleepy natures to accept excuses for failure?

Are we opening our minds and hearts during services by being alert and eager?

Are we wise or foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-12)? Have we been lulled to sleep and see no need for urgency (II Peter 3:4)?

God knows the true answers to each of these questions. Do we?

Even in our struggles and sorrows we can overcome spiritual lethargy. As I said in my sermon Sunday night, "In times of despair, worry, or disappointment, the simplest yet most potent solution is to look up and remember who God is. His greatness surpasses our challenges and His might overshadows our weakness."

These relationship-building tools are our Christian responsibilities. They are the daily, little things given to us that tell God the real intentions of our hearts.

The one who gives careless attention to these responsibilities is a lazy Laodicean. We need to open our heart’s doors to Christ as never before because, as Romans 13:11 says, “So knowing the time, it is high time to wake up out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

Standing in the gap,

Pastor Paul