Open the door of your Heart!!!

He is Knocking on the Door of Your Heart!

We all like images . . .  well, I know that I certainly do  . . . . because images can be very useful in putting across the point that you are trying to make.  How does that old saying go?  "A picture is worth a thousand words . . . ."  Thus, over the years I have made somewhat frequent references to a famous painting of Our Blessed Saviour knocking on the door in a garden.

In fact, we had a copy of the portrait of Christ knocking at the Door of our old church when we were located on College Avenue.  This came about because one of my grandchildren brought me the copy of the picture, proudly saying to me:  "This is the picture that you are always talking about when you preach! We found it in Goodwill!"  You see, sometimes people do pay attention to my sermons and actually hear what I'm saying!  But I digress . . . .

There have been several renditions of this painting over the years:

All of the pictures above are very nice, each in their own way.  The following picture, though, is certainly the most famous, in my humble opinion, and the one which is most widely known:

This is really the image that I specifically make reference to in my sermon.  The picture itself is very nice but what I make specific mention of is the fact that if you look closely you will soon notice that there is no door handle or door knob on the door.  In other words, Our Blessed Lord is knocking but He can not open the door without YOU opening it from the other side.  Certainly, this is a good reminder that God is also knocking as well.  He is not knocking on the door of our home but He is knocking on the "door" of our heart.  He is knocking to be let in .  . . . . but just like in the portrayal above . . . . He can not open it Himself . . .  we have to let Him in.  I heard a long time ago that Our Lord is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word; He will not barge in, He will not intrude into our lives, He will not barge in, unannounced.  Rather, He is very polite and will wait for an invitation.   Certainly, Our Blessed Saviour wants to be a part of our life but He will not force Himself on us.  He is waiting for us to invite Him in.  He is waiting for us to open the door to Him!