Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 (KJV).

REFLECT:
The relationship or understanding between a guest and the host is an area worth exploring. As human beings, we are relational beings. We have been created by God to relate with one another in various ways and on various levels. The popular term– ‘no man is an island,’ is a testimony to the fact that we are created to have relationships with each other.

Even more important to note here is the fact that the main purpose for which God created us was to have a relationship with Him, this relationship was to be expressed through the avenue of our worship for Him. Also, our relationship with God supersedes the relationships we have with our fellow men.

So, why does God intend for us to be in relationships? The first few chapters of the book of Genesis open us to the reasons for God’s intentions. A brief explanation to this question is that God put us together for us to work together to achieve the mandate and goals we were assigned to carry out on the earth. We needed to work in partnership with each other to accomplish this purpose, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 1: 26-28(KJV).

Unfortunately, there was a breach of this initial agreement between God and man, after man rebelled against God. Man disobeyed God and decided to shift his allegiance and loyalty to the devil. With this behavior sin and corruption were introduced into the world, which also had a devastating effect on our relationship with God and our fellow man.

God’s ultimate plan following this was to restore us to His original purpose for us and all creation. For this reason, Jesus the Son of God came to die for us, to save, redeem and restore us to our first estate, the original plan, and the purpose of God.

It is this redemptive process that our Bible verse presents to us today. Jesus comes to us as a Persistent and determined guest. He comes into our world, our circumstances, our situations, expecting to be let in by us, the Willing hosts or hostesses to bring us His most precious gifts of salvation and redemption.

A point to clarify here is that this Bible verse does not only apply to people who have not yet received Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives, it also applies to those of us who have already received Jesus into our lives.

The truth is, that the redemptive work on the cross is finished and perfectly completed, however, every one of us in our walk with Christ goes through a daily redemptive process for our lives. For this process to occur, we must daily open ourselves, the doors of our lives or hearts to Jesus to have access to come in so that He can work in us for His good pleasure, and to perfect all that concerns us. Psalms 138:8.

The point where we first accept Jesus into our hearts or lives is only the beginning of this process. As we continue in our relationship with God in Christ Jesus, He continues to work in us to do His perfect work of salvation and redemption to build us into that perfect man He has intended us to be in Christ Jesus ordained from the foundations of the world.

It is, therefore, my heartfelt prayer that we will all be the Willing hosts and hostesses, who will always open the doors to the various compartments of our lives to Jesus our persistent guest whenever He comes knocking on those doors.

To be a Willing host to Jesus our persistent guest is to be ready at all times to submit and surrender the access doors to every area of our lives to Him. When we do this, He comes in offering the immeasurable gift of the Kingdom to us for our enjoyment.

Ebimobo W. Obasi

PLEASE PRAY ALONG:

Offering Myself to God

FATHER GOD, You know me inside and out—even the parts I struggle to hand over to You. Please transform my heart so that I can continuously offer more of myself to You. Come into my life and change me. In JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN.