One of my favorite Bible verses is Revelation 3:20 -- Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
In personal evangelism I have used this verse many times to invite someone to surrender to Jesus. When I found a person who seemed ready to accept Jesus as Savior, I would say “Would you like to become a follower of Jesus right now, this very moment?” Usually the person replied “Yes, I would.”
I explained that the process is not complicated. I opened my Bible and invited the person to read Revelation 3:20 aloud. Then I said, “All God requires is that you repent of your sins, accept his forgiveness, and invite Jesus to come into your heart and reign there as your Savior and Lord. You have his word, his promise, that if you open the door of your heart and invite him in, he will come in. Would you like to do that?”
When the answer was yes, as it usually was, I would ask the inquirer to place one hand on verse 20 as we prayed. After thanking Jesus for keeping his promise, I urged the new believer to claim verse 20 as their life verse, memorize it, and share it with others as I had done.
Is this too simple? Is this all there is to becoming a disciple of Jesus? Of course not. Authentic discipleship hinges on maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus. Genuine faith begins when Jesus is invited into the heart; a life-transforming relationship is begun. Since repentance is necessary, the first thing Jesus does inside the heart is to begin cleansing us of our sins, releasing us from guilt, and setting us free to love God, love others and love ourselves.
Where have I used this verse in this way? Sometimes at the altar of a church, but more often in other places, anywhere there is opportunity for a private conversation with someone who is seeking to know Jesus.
God can change the heart anywhere a person is willing to trust him. Whenever, and wherever we may be, Jesus is ready to come into the open door of a willing heart. Phillips Brooks made this beautifully clear with these words in his hymn, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” –
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend on us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
When Christ enters a heart’s door opened to him, a lifetime of change is underway! Soon, of course, the deep waters of life will require a sturdier faith. But faith grows stronger as we walk with Jesus. As Jesus reigns in the heart, he teaches us how to lean on him and our faith muscles are strengthened. Most of us will walk through dark valleys. There we will realize how much we need his strengthening presence during hard times.
When Jesus is on the throne of our hearts, he gives us the grace to persevere. This brings to mind another powerful verse in this same chapter three of Revelation: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that I going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth (3:10).
Oswald Chambers reminds us (in My Utmost for His Highest) that perseverance is much more than endurance. It is more than simply holding on. It is, he says, “endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.”
Urging us to entrust ourselves to God’s hands, Chambers says, “Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him’” (Job 13:15). The good news is that the One who created the universe is ready to provide us with the inner strength to persevere.
“The real meaning of eternal life,” Chambers writes, “is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance – a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is discipling us to get us into this central place of power.”
When Jesus reigns in the heart, life can indeed become “one great romance” – a romance begun with a simple beginning! And, in love with the great Lover of his soul, the mature believer will indeed see God doing wonderful things all the time – until He calls us home!