As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:19-20 KJV

This verse wasn’t written just for folks who had gold stars on their Sunday school papers. In fact this is the church who Jesus just got done telling that he was ready to spit them out because they were like lukewarm water! But at the end of His rebuke  Jesus reminds me of my Dad telling me He only was spanking me because he loved me. Here is the first of two messages of hope for those of us who have been lovingly spanked.

The wonderful news is that He is standing right outside  our door not only today but every day. Whether we have been as pure as the Virgin Mary or as sinful as the woman caught in the act of adultery; Jesus stands outside waiting for our response to His knock. Why not fling open the door every morning and invite Him in? How does that work? Let’s imagine being inside the door of a home in the days of the apostles.

First Jesus says that if we will open the door He will come in and sit down with us at our table.  In that time the first thing to do for a guest would be to kiss Him on the cheek in greeting. My father from the old school Italian tradition often kissed me like that and as a teenager it was way more than I wanted! His kiss told me that He was delighted to call me his son and that anything I needed he was prepared to give. My father was always more generous with me than I deserved.

Next a guest upon entering the home would be provided a basin of  water and a servant who came to wash his feet. Our humble repentance  of  everything  displeasing to him is both our loving duty and our privilege. Once we open the door He willingly comes in and allows us to wash His feet which are clean then remember that He has chosen to wash our feet that are dirty. Last the host put a few drops of olive oil on his palms to wipe the guest’s hair clean from the  dust of the road. The oil that we can give Him at the doorway  is our joyful and grateful praise that He has  come. He is at every one of our doorways this morning knocking. The sooner we run to fling open the door. The sooner the Lord will come in.  Why wait even one more moment?