Keep Knocking

 December 22, 2022

Sometimes I feel like Charlie Brown, lying on his back after Lucy has yanked the football from him again: “Augghh!” I’m 73, have been a Christian since I was 13, so that’s 60 years; you would think I would have gotten the hang of things before this. 

This morning during our men’s prayer time, my mind drifted to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” —Matthew 7:7-8 

I don’t know why I never saw this before, but this morning it was like a flash of light into my soul. I’ve often prayed that God would open doors for me to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Do you catch that? I prayed that God would open the doors, but that’s not what Jesus said here. In essence, he’s saying that the doors are there; many of them are closed, but it’s not his job to open the doors. That is the responsibility of whoever is behind the door. It’s my job to recognize the door for what it is and to knock on it. Sometimes doors are hidden behind all sorts of overgrowth. Sometimes they are locked tight. Sometimes they’ve been shut so long the hinges are rusted shut. It doesn’t matter what shape the door is in, how tightly or long it’s been shut, or where in the wall the door is located. My job is simply to knock.

And Jesus’ promise is both clear and simple: “To the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Why haven’t I seen that before? I don’t know, but this morning I saw it, and today I determined to put it into practice. I was going to knock on the door, and if it opened even a crack, I would put my foot in it and wedge it open so the Holy Spirit could squeeze his way in. I did just that, and God showed up. 

I’m going to keep knocking, maybe even knocking on walls as well as doors. Who knows whether there might be a hidden door that will yield before my knuckles? What I do know is this: Jesus himself promises that if I knock, the door will open. This old Charlie Brown can pick himself up and start running toward that ball again, only this time, Lucy won’t be there to pull the ball away. Jesus nudged her aside and is holding it steady for me. Through the goal posts!