The Invitation

by Nita Adams

John 2:1-2 says, "On the third day (after His baptism), a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding."

Many years ago, I spent nearly 12 months studying the Gospel of John during my devotional time. As I studied, I covered the pages of my Bible with notes and Scripture references; a long-standing and messy habit of mine. Besides using several colors of ink plus a red pencil, I wrote notations at an angle across the tops of pages and up and down the margins of my Bible, often underlining them with red, black or blue ink. Various markings of stars, exclamation marks and brackets called attention to thoughts or comments I wanted to remember, and arrow-tipped lines pointed from one Scripture verse to another of like content. Each of these markings simply called attention to truths that were important to me. 

In the margin of my Bible next to these two verses I wrote: “Jesus goes where He is invited." And in the same margin I noted a reference to Revelation 3:20, "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." Jesus is polite, (author Gene Stratton Porter describes Him as a “gentleman.”) He never forces Himself into any person's "house" or heart; He always waits for an invitation. In 1931, Warner Sallman painted a picture called "Heart's Door." It depicts Jesus knocking at a heavy wooden door, complete with large metal hinges. One thing, however, is missing: there is no doorknob on the outside of the door. It can only be opened by someone inside. My husband, Laddie, and I both grew up with this painting on the walls of our Sunday School classes, and our teachers took special pains to explain that Jesus will only come into our hearts when He is invited. Today, as I look at a copy of the painting, I noticed something I had never seen before: there is an open grate near the top of the door. I would guess its purpose is to allow the homeowner to identify the one knocking. Our hearts are so fashioned by God that we are able to hear and recognize His voice; Jesus never leaves us in doubt of His identity. He stands there knocking, waiting for an invitation to, as we say in Oklahoma, "Come on in, make yourself at home."

I figure that Jesus often stands at our heart's door and knocks. Even when we have invited Him in and accepted Him as our guest, we need to have an open-door policy so He can often make Himself at home as a perpetual visitor and friend. Thank Him today for wanting your friendship, and most of all, for wanting to be received into your heart as an honored guest. Won’t you open the door of your heart today and ask Jesus to come in? You will never be the same again.

Author Bio
Nita was born in Hazard, KY. She married her Oklahoma husband, Laddie Adams, in 1954, and has been a CRBC member over 40 years. She has three adult children: Gerald, who lives in Shawnee with his wife, Leesa (their children Zack and Katherine); Jimmy lives in Heaven with his dad; and Jana, who has recently moved back to OKC with her husband, David Kuehler, and two cats, Cosmo and Cosby.