MEANS: strike a surface noisily to
attract attention, collide with (someone or something), demolish the barriers
between
FROM: Old English cnocian,
of imitative origin
BIBLE VERSE: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will
be opened to you.”
(Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9)
THOUGHTS: We all
know what it means to ‘knock’. This citation is also very familiar. Another
citation using the word ‘knock’ is from 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 that
person, and they with me.” In the Gospel verses we hear that God will open
the door to us when we knock and ask for what we need. The converse is true, as
well. Jesus is knocking and waiting for our response. In both cases, the
barrier between us and God is being taken away. I think it is interesting to
thing that this is a two-way interaction. We knock and ask God, who in return
won’t barge into our lives without our invitation.
Having said that, it is also true
that God will not give up on us and will continue to knock and pursue us.
Francis Thompson in his famous work The
Hound of Heaven pictures this pursuit clearly
I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’
I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside)… (Read the whole poem.)
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside)… (Read the whole poem.)
As Thompson points out, we often
try to run away from God’s gentle and insistent knocking because we are afraid
“For, though I knew His
love Who followèd, Yet was I sore adread Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.”
Yes, it is Love Who knocks, and who answers our knock.
However, when we knock and seek we find that we are not as self-sufficient as
we might hope. Equally, when we open the door to God’s knock, we are changed
and discover that we may not get things our own way. Are you ready to open the
door?
PRAYER: Loving
God, you invite me to ask you for what I need and you wait for me to open the
door of my heart to you. Help me to let go of the fear and the control that
keeps me from opening to your Love.
MEANS: cause (a person or animal) to
go with one by holding them by the hand, a halter, a rope, etc., while moving
forward, show (someone or something) the way to a destination by going in front
of or beside them, be a reason or motive for (someone), be in charge or command
of, set (a process) in motion, have the first place in (a competition); be
ahead of (competitors)
FROM: Old English lǣdan,
of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leiden and German leiten
BIBLE VERSE: I will lead the blind
by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will
turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16)
THOUGHTS: Lead
means to move someone forward by being in command of the situation or process.
In the citation from Isaiah, God is promising that even the blind will be lead
along paths “they have not known”. For someone who is blind, this could be a
frightening situation. You have to believe that the one who is leading you is
trustworthy and won’t let you fall or trip. God promises to turn the darkness
to light and make the rough places smooth. God promises not to forsake the
blind, or us.
In truth we are each blind in one way or another. We might
say we have a ’blind spot’ about this or that aspect of our lives. God wants to
shine a light on that and lead us out of the darkness so that we are no longer
blind. Are you willing to let God do that?
PRAYER: Living
God, shine a light on my blind spots and lead me into the new paths of your way
and truth and life.
SCRAPBOOK PROMPTS:
You might want to draw a door that shows your response to
God’s knocking and asking to enter.
Think about what you might have a blind spot about. Is it
something you want to journal about, or find a picture of, to help you
visualize more clearly how to let it go?
God knocks and asks to be let in, so that God can then lead
us along new paths. Perhaps you would like to draw a picture of what that path
looks like.
