Devotionals for the Heart: Jesus Christ is waiting for you to invite Him in

Waiting Here for You
A devotional by Julia Wilson

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you. And you will eat with me.” –Revelation 3:20 (ERV)

Waiting. We are all waiting for something. In these uncertain days of COVID-19 and lockdowns, we have all been waiting for the opening of shops, restaurants, pubs, gyms and swimming pools. We are also waiting for that precious day when we will be able to hug our loved ones. In Britain, we are used to waiting patiently in queues.

When a person becomes a new Christian, we often hear people say, “All my life I was waiting for something and now I know I was waiting for God.”

Have you ever realized that God is waiting for you? God is a gentleman. He will not force His way into your life. God stands patiently, knocking on the door of your heart. Will you answer His call today?

I love the famous painting by Holman Hunt that illustrates Revelation 3:20. He depicts Jesus Christ standing outside the door of your heart, holding a lamp. He has knocked but cannot go through the door because there is no handle on His side where He stands outside of the door. You must open the door from the inside and invite Him into your life.

Wow! What are we waiting for? Why are we keeping Jesus waiting? If we knew that the Queen of England was coming to our house for tea, we would be constantly at the window looking for her and as soon as she knocked, we would open the door.

Jesus has issued us an invite… He wants to come for tea. Will you open the door and let Him in?

We see another instance of Jesus waiting in Luke 15:11-32 in the story of the prodigal son. In this story, the father waits for his son to return home. And when he finally does, this is what happens: “So the young son set off for home. From a long distance away, his father saw him coming, dressed as a beggar, and great compassion swelled up in his heart for his son who was returning home. So the father raced out to meet him. He swept him up in his arms, hugged him dearly, and kissed him over and over with tender love” (Luke 15:20 TPT).

What we need to know here, is in biblical times, it would have been shocking to see a father figure pick up his robes, run towards his son and hug him. Fathers were more dignified than that but the father does not care what others think, he is focused on his son returning home.

This is a picture of God waiting for us. He is constantly looking out for us to come home to Him. Imagine the scene … we were lost, wandering in the wilderness of life, when suddenly we see the Father running towards us and enveloping us in His love. We have come home. We are loved.

Do you know the Father (God)? Would you like to know the Father? He is knocking on the door of your heart. But the question is, “Will you let Him in?”

If you want to open the door to Jesus for the first time, or maybe you are returning to Him, please may I lead you in a prayer?

Let’s Pray: Dear Father God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for knocking on the door of my heart. I want to open the door to you today. Come into my life and lead me always in your love. In Jesus’s Name I pray, Amen.

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Author Bio:

My name is Julia Wilson but I also go by Christian Bookaholic.

I live with my husband and five cats in a small town in Worcestershire on the banks of the River Severn (England). We have four grown up children and three granddaughters.

I have always loved reading and have always been surrounded by books. I used to work as a teaching assistant for special needs in the local high school. Ill health forced me to stop working in December 2015. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (known as M.E.) and fibromyalgia. I now have plenty of time to read and review books!

Our eldest son set up my Christian Bookaholic blog. I review every book I read. I read over 300 books a year. I read Christian and mass market. I prefer stories set from 1850 onwards. My favourite type of books to read is stories set in WWI and WWII, and Russia under Czar Nicholas II.

I am a historian, having a Combined Humanities degree where I majored in History and minored in English. I also love swimming. I only learned how to swim in 2017 and go swimming four mornings a week for 90 minutes before breakfast, it keeps my joints going.

I am also a crazy cat lady. I absolutely love my cats. I have grown up with cats and cannot imagine life without them. My dream is to own an old fashioned seal point Siamese … but not while we have our young rescue cat as she hates other cats!

I love God and love going to a large lively church called Lifecentral. I cannot imagine life without God. He gives a peace even when life does not. He guides my life. He is my Rock.