Heart Tracks - An Inconvenient Time

     Revelation 3:20 is a oft quoted verse.  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will have fellowship with him, and he with Me."  Concerning this verse, Wade Taylor asks the question, "What if the Lord comes knocking on our heart's door at an inconvenient time?  Will we let Him in?"  Would we?

      We very much live in a culture of convenience.  Our expectation is that life should move at a pace that is convenient for us.  People should adapt their lives to us in accordance with a pattern that is convenient for us.  Though we may not state it, we expect Christ to do the same.  He should know when to come, and certainly should not come when other things, perhaps more important things, are happening.  Sunday's are usually good, most of the time.  Even a mid-week prayer group is acceptable, as long as it doesn't go on too long.  We're open to Him as long as He doesn't become a distraction from the things that really have our attention.  "Lord, please come when it's a time more convenient for us."  Yet, He never comes at a convenient time.  He won't adapt His life to ours.  He insists that our life be absorbed into His.  He won't force His way in, but if we miss Him, we will never have the chance to receive what at that moment He longed to give.  I don't say that He will not come knocking again, but our chance to have what He came to give at that moment is gone, and can never be offered again.
     In Luke 24, as He walked with the two disciples shortly after His death and resurrection to life on the Emmaus Road, and after speaking much to them about Himself and all that scripture had to say of Him, and while the two remained blind to who He truly was, verse 28 says that as they came near to their destination, "He acted as though He would go farther on."  They were faced with a deep choice.  He'd been "knocking" at the door of their hearts.  It was now toward evening, time for their evening meal.  In middle eastern culture, to invite Him in for a meal was to invite Him into personal intimacy with them.  Without the invite, He was willing to go on.  They extended the invitation to stay, and as He entered in, and broke bread with them, scripture tells us that "their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him."  Had they allowed Him to go on, that was a moment that could not come again.  Yes, another opportunity may have come, but it would not be in that way, with that result.  They would have missed the wonder and glory He offered them at that time.  A wondrous revelation of Himself, offered at a time that may not have been convenient at all.

     Our lives are filled with inconvenient times.  No matter how hard we seek to control our schedules, and structure our time investments, we can be sure of one thing, He'll not honor them.  He will come knocking, seeking entry, fellowship, intimacy.  We can be sure of another thing.  He'll be doing so today.  When He does, will we allow Him to go "farther on," because the visitation is not a convenient one for us?  If we do, what will be missed, lost to us forever?  The two disciples on the Emmaus Road said that their hearts "burned within them," as He spoke.  Do we hear Him speaking now?  Do our hearts burn?  Or, will we allow Him to go farther on, without us?

Blessings,
Pastor O