The Knocking of the Spirit
“Behold, I sta?id at the door a?id block” — Rev. iii. 20.
Why does He not come in? Is not this Divine Spirit omnipotent? Has He not power to enter where He will, to breathe where He chooses, to blow where He listeth? Why, then, does He stand without, knocking at the door of a frail human heart? Could He not break down that door in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and annihilate that opposing barrier which disputes His claim to universal empire? Yes, but in so doing He would annihilate also the man. What makes me a man is just my power to open the door.
If I had no power to open or to forbear opening I would not be responsible. The Divine Spirit might then, indeed, do with me what He will, but I would not be wTorth His possession. I would be simply as the unconscious stars which He fills with light, as the blind winds which He directs on their way. But if the stars and the winds had been enough He would never have said, “Let us make man.” He made me because He meant me to be more than a star, more than a breath of heaven. He meant me to respond to Himself, to open on His knocking at the door. He could have no joy in breaking down the door, in taking the kingdom of my heart by violence; there would be no response in that, no answer of a heart to His heart, no acceptance of a will by His will. Therefore, He prefers to stand without till I open, to knock till I hear, to speak till I respond. He would not have my being to be lost in His, for His being is love, and love demands love.
0 Thou Divine Spirit, that in all events of life art knocking at the door of my heart, help me to respond to Thee. I would not be t46 MOMENTS ON THE MOUNT.
driven blindly as the stars over their courses. I would not be made to work out Thy will unwillingly, to fulfil Thy law unintelligently, to obey Thy mandates unsympathetically. “Where Thou goest I would go, where Thou dwellest I would dwell. I would take the events of my life as good and perfect gifts from Thee; I would receive even the sorrows of life as disguised gifts from Thee. I would have my heart open at all times to receive Thee — at morning, noon, and night; in spring, and summer, and winter. Whether Thou comest to me in sunshine or in rain, I would take Thee into my heart joyfully. Thou art Thyself more than the sunshine, Thou art Thyself compensation for the rain; it is Thee and not Thy gifts I crave; knock and I shall open unto Thee.