‘Was that the doorbell? Did you hear something?’ One of my greatest frustrations is getting an email saying that a parcel is going to be delivered, waiting in all morning for it, and then going to the front door – only to discover a passive-aggressive card that claims ‘We tried to deliver’. Did you? Really?
Mind you, there have been times when the delivery person has rung the bell and knocked on the door, but I have been too busy to answer. Honestly thinking that what I was doing was far more important. Every time I see that little card I start to wonder – what have I missed?
In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, there is a special message from Jesus. He writes to tell us that He stands at the door and knocks. I love this image. The idea that the God of the universe would come to my house, and knock on my door, to come and sit down and have tea with me. It’s staggering.
This is one of the things about Christianity that attracts me. The idea that we don’t go and find God, but that He comes to find us. He wants to know us. And He knows where we live. This is the greatest gift of God, a living relationship with Him. But, whilst this text is used predominantly evangelistically, it is actually written to Christians. Jesus wants to have continual fellowship with His people, with you and me. He knocks at our door.
But we don’t always answer… or notice.
I wonder, are we too busy and distracted to hear Jesus?
Dawn of the digital age
2007 is probably the most significant year we didn’t realise was happening. It was the dawn of the ‘digital age’. It was the year a revolution silently took over our lives. Apple launched the iPhone, and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter went worldwide. It was the beginning of a new age. But we didn’t see it coming, and we haven’t caught up with the consequences.
Last year, Uswitch carried out a screen time survey and discovered that the average person in the UK spends five hours per day on a device. But some age groups, like those between 16 and 24, can be on apps like Instagram for up to seven hours a day! I wonder, how often do you check your phone, scroll through the news, check out Twitter, or like a post on Facebook? Moreover, for those of us without social media, how often do we check work emails on our phones, even on our days off ? Or how about smiling at a WhatsApp message instead of your child in front of you?
We can feel bombarded and betrayed by all these blinking notifications. The betrayal comes from the fact that smartphones promised us that we could hold the world in our hands. But now, the world holds us in its hands. We need to revolutionise the digital revolution. We need to take back control of our devices, and let then serve us, not us them. A smartphone is like a dog. If you leave it untrained and undisciplined it will just yap and bark all day long, leaving a mess everywhere it goes. Let’s train our phones and platforms.
If we learnt to put these notifications in their place, get on top of the distracting interruptions, I wonder what we would be freed to hear? What would it mean for the believer to hear Jesus knock at the door? Could there be Divine Interruptions aplenty?
Maybe we would see more of creation. Instead of Instagram likes we see the infinite power of God. Perhaps we would see more opportunities to show compassion. Rather than reading a news feed on the cost of living crisis, we might see our neighbours in need and help them. And what about communion, fellowship, with Jesus? What if we exchanged bathing our sorrows in a box-set binge, or finding acceptance and affection in likes, retweets and comments, but rather drew near to the God of all comfort, the One who wants us to approach His throne of grace in our time of need?
Friends, Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Let’s learn to listen and welcome Him in.
