Open the Door!

There have been a rash of electricity salesmen knocking on my door of late.  The thing that bothers me about them is their dishonesty:  they claim they are not trying to sell me anything when the exact opposite is true.  Listening to them talk, it is simply out of the "goodness of their hearts" they are trying to save me money on my electricity costs.  They all have similar tactics:  they butter me up or ask a loaded question, and then try to sink their hooks in.  No matter how direct I am, a salesman who understands the point and walks away before I close the door is rare.

Because of the influx of well-intentioned salesmen who want me to switch my electricity provider (and I'm not changing, so please stop bothering me!), when I hear a knock at the door I instinctively groan.  Who could it be now?  Who else wants to make me their customer?  How many more times will I have to endure the shallow chatter and repeat myself over and over?  "No thank you.  And no, I will not allow you to look at my previous bill."  The other night our whole family just sat down to dinner and there was a loud knock at the door.  I had dealt with one electricity salesmen of the overweening variety that day.  The previous night at dinner a man came trying to sell me some Spanish art!  I continued to eat dinner.  "I am not answering that," I announced to the family.  "If they were someone who knows me, they could ring."

The next day it came to light that it was not a salesman who came to my door, but a FedEx courier with an overseas shipment!  I knew a shipment was coming soon, but at that moment I was so fed up I didn't care who it was!  In retrospect, that was a rare occasion when I wished I had opened the door.  My decision to ignore the knock at the door reminded me of an anecdote titled "Afraid of the Landlord" told by D.L. Moody.  It is recorded in John Lobb's book Arrows and Anecdotes on page 135, written in 1877:

Many think God comes wanting something from us.  When he was in Glasgow, Dr. William Arnot heard that a poor woman was unable to pay her rent, and he thought he would go round to her house and give her some assistance.  After knocking he heard some one moving; he knocked again, but no one came; he waited some time, but after knocking repeatedly he had to leave without gaining admittance.  A day or two afterwards he met the woman in the street, and told her that he had been at the house, with the view of helping her. "O doctor!" exclaimed the poor widow, "was that you?  Why, I thought it was the landlord, and was afraid to open as I had nothing to pay him with."  Now that woman just represented a sinner.  Jesus comes knocking at the door of our heart; He says:  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man open I will come in and sup with him."  He is knocking - knocking today, and yet we keep the door fastened and hide trembling, imagining all the time that He has come to demand something we cannot pay.

How true this can be of us in a spiritual sense!  We can be so involved in the cares of this life, so focused on extinguishing fiery darts of the wicked one, and be caught up in trials that when Christ comes to spend time with us we feel too weary to give Him the time and attention He deserves.  How many times has Jesus stood out calling our names at the door of our hearts and we run and hide, thinking he brings greater guilt and condemnation!  We see our lack and are ashamed of any meal we might prepare for the King of Kings, forgetting that He is the one who supplies the food for the table!  Christ desires to commune with us.  He has already provided Living Water of the Holy Spirit, His broken body, and His shed blood - food and drink for our souls indeed!  Jesus has given us Himself, become the propitiation for our sins, and purchased us with His own blood.

God provided the Jews manna in the wilderness; bread from heaven to sustain them.  Jesus is the Living Bread!  He proclaims in John 6:35 & 51:  "And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst....⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  When Jesus comes knocking at your heart, don't ignore His call!  Open to Him!