THE CHURCH OF LAODICEA

Rev.3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

This word had to bring John back years ago when he was a fisherman on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. So much had happened in those last sixty or so years but the Lord’s message was still the same. John remembered these words like they were yesterday, “follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men”. John had seen so many give their hearts to Christ over the years but he knew the job was not yet done. The churches that he would soon leave behind (by now John was probably 90 years old) would take on this John’s fisherman mantle. Apparently these churches were teetering on apathy and being lukewarm and this was a call back to passion for the Lord and a fervency for the harvest. Here is how the Fire Bible describes this verse.

“This verse is often cited as an invitation for “unsaved” individuals who have yet to receive spiritual salvation and personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. However, while that is a valid invitation, we must also keep in mind that Christ originally gave this message to a church whose people had neglected their relationship with Christ and were out of touch with him. In its self-sufficient prosperity and worldliness, the church in Laodicea had excluded the Lord Jesus Christ from its congregations. Christ’s invitation, spoken from outside the door, is a request for renewed companionship with any individual who will turn from his or her own way and return to a devoted faith and renewed passion for Christ. Christ’s invitation is to sit down at the table with them and share spiritual nourishment. The Bible also speaks of a great “wedding supper” for Christ and his bride–the church. But only those who “eat” with Jesus now will eat with him then.”

This has got to become the heartbeat of the modern church to prepare for the coming of the Lord. We must come into a harmonious song calling for the lost to open their hearts to Jesus. This is the Lord’s final plea to humanity, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”. Have you opened your heart to Jesus? If no today would be a good day for that, open your heart and He will come flooding in.