Is He Welcome or Not?

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A few years ago our son, daughter-in-law and two precious grandchildren lived with us for about six weeks before leaving to be missionaries in Asia.  The clock was ticking down to their departure.  It was no longer years, months, weeks or days away—now it was only a matter of hours.  We cherished every moment together.  

Just hours before they were to leave, our 3-yrs old granddaughter had a high fever and had just returned from the doctor with an ear infection and strep throat.  I was cuddling with her in the rocking chair when the doorbell rang.

Our son, who has a heart to reach the hurting and lost, answered the door.  The next thing I knew there was a vacuum cleaner salesman doing a demo in my living room.  Guess what?  I was not welcoming. The poor kid knelt on the living room area rug and tried to convince me how much I needed his product.  I was not polite.

While the salesman was talking, I looked at our son and say, “Really?  You’re doing this right now—hours before we say goodbye, with a sick child and luggage all over the place.”   The awkward young man still plugged away with his rehearsed demonstration while our son pleaded with me to be kind to the stranger he had welcomed in.

Well—I’m not super proud of that moment, to say the least, but it does give me a platform to jump to this.

“Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home…”  Revelation 3:20 New English Translation (NET Bible)
 
Most people who read my weekly devotionals have opened the door and welcomed the Lord into their heart/life/home.  But, like me in the confessional above, is HE really welcome?  Have we prepared a table, offered him a seat, made room for him in our hectic lives?  Or maybe He's awkwardly standing in the room like an unwanted vacuum cleaner salesman.

Today, take a moment and picture your life as a room.  Where is Jesus?  Is He Welcome or Not?


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