Can You Hear the Knocking?

          The other morning I got up and prepared togo through my normal morning ritual. As I was scrambling some eggs and pouring milk I started to turn on the news and catch the weather. But, on this particular morning I paused on the way to the TV and decided I would do things a little differently. I went back to the kitchen and turned on the local Christian radio station. I remember thinking to myself, “I have a long day ahead of me and I want to focus it around God early.” Normally, breakfast is a whirlwind of activity. There is food to prepare, children to dress, lunches to pack, etc. My wife and I are not morning people. So we kind of muddle through the chaos half-asleep and hope we manage to put the lunches in the backpacks and the backpacks on the kids instead of some other unfortunate arrangement. (Putting your children in backpacks is generally frowned upon!) As I listened to the songs playing in the background the lyrics slowly focused my thoughts on God -His love, His grace, His faithfulness. Before I knew it, I was in prayerful conversation with God over scrambled eggs and ham.                                                                     

          What had been normal daily ritual became nourishing relationship with the God of the universe. I think most of us maintain a pretty hectic schedule these days. I generally try to maintain an “open ear” toward God throughout the day; and yet, I often find myself going through the motions of large portions of my day with little awarness of God at all. And walking closely with Him matters! Gentle whispers of assurance or direction, gentle nudges to reach out to the people I come in contact with, words of encouragement in daily trials, and so much more...all come from God when I am listening for Him as I go about my day.

          We generally associate Revelation 3:20 with a person first answering God's invitation to come into personal relationship with Him. It says, “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. (NIV)” I also think this verse has a lot to say about God's open-ended invitation to us in every moment of every day. It is hard to believe that the Son of God who has the whole world and every person in it before His eyes constantly would have much interest in me. Have you ever felt that way? But it's true. Jesus is excited about every opportunity we choose to spend with Him. When I chose to listen to music that turned my thoughts toward God, instead of the morning weather report -I was opening the door and accepting His invitation to do life together.

          All it takes is a few Christian songs instead of the normal news routine, a few moments reading Scripture instead of channel surfing, or turning a conversation with friends toward God instead of last night's football game. When He was trying to get a point across to the crowds of people, Jesus often said, “For those who have ears to hear, let them hear...” I think God has lots of things to say to us throughout our day. I want to have ears to hear it. I want to be a better and more frequent listener. I hope you'll join me in trying to turn more of the monotonous moments in life into fruitful time with God as we look for opportunities to open the door of our hearts and lives to Him more frequently.