Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
This verse is found in the context of the letter sent to the Church at Laodicea. The Apostle John opens the Revelation with seven letters, written to seven churches. These churches are both literal churches in different regions of the early church age, but they are also interpreted as certain time frames in the entire church age. The church at Laodicea was a very wealthy church. One that had unique riches. Unlike the other churches, Laodicea seems to be prosperous and full of themselves. This is probably a good representation of the current church age. The interpretation of the above verse tends to give theologians trouble, however. The major question is who is the verse spoken to? Many interpret the verse as if it is speaking to the unsaved world. The message of the verse could certainly be applied to those who are lost. Jesus is, indeed, standing outside their lives and wishes to come in and fellowship with them. However, in the context, John says he is addressing the Church at Laodicea. That means Jesus is speaking to believers. He is telling believers that He wants more and more fellowship with them. It is asking them to open their door in full to Him so He can have full fellowship with them. If we go back a couple of verses we read a major problem about this group of believers:
Revelation 3:15-16 (ESV)
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Their challenge was that they were not fully committed to allowing Jesus to be completely the center of their being. Their prosperity had caused them to be less committed to Jesus. This is so true of today’s believer. We only want God when WE need Him. When people fill their lives with other things, besides Jesus, they need to open their hearts fuller to Him. Jesus is telling them that in this sin of self-sufficiency they need to turn to Him. He is asking them to open their hearts and allow Him to come in and fellowship deeper. Yes, the unsaved world has Jesus on the outside and needs to turn in repentance to receive Him. But, believers can close themselves out to Jesus fullest fellowship, even after they have repented of their sin. We can become self-sufficient. But if we open our hearts to Him and push all the other worldly garbage out of our hearts, Jesus will come into us in the deepest sense and eat and fellowship with us.
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