LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were so impressed by Conrad’s story, it reminded them of a wonderful painting by William Holman Hunt called Light of the World, which shows the Lord Jesus knocking on the door of the soul.  There is no knob, the door only opens from the inside.  They wanted so badly for the King to seat himself in His rightful throne, which was their hearts.

SCRIPTURE

Behold I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.” (Matthew 25:34-36)

FOOLISH WISDOM

Jesus stands at the door knocking.  In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help.  He confronts you in every person that you meet.  As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you.  That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent message.  Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being among us. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, open my eyes that I might see you in the stranger, the prisoner, the sick.  Open my ears that I might hear the cry of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked.  Strengthen my hands and my feet that I may go and give and that, by doing so, my heart might open from the inside.  Amen.