Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

During the life of Christ He was often pushed away by the religious leaders. They listened to words of Jesus, but not as a friend would, but as an enemy trying to trap Him by own His words. In the verse above we find Jesus making a personal appeal to all people. If you hear His voice and you open the door to your heart, Jesus will abide with you in a close, personal, and warm friendship.

Arthur F. Burns, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve System and ambassador to West Germany, was a man of considerable gravity. Medium in height, distinguished, with wavy silver hair and his signature pipe, he was economic counselor to a number of presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. When he spoke, his opinions carried weight, and Washington listened. Arthur Burns was also Jewish, so when he began attending an informal White House group for prayer and fellowship in the 1970s, he was accorded special respect. No one in fact quite knew how to involve him in the group, and, week after week when different people took turns to end the meeting in prayer, Burns was passed by—out of a mixture of respect and reticence.

One week, however, the group was led by a newcomer who did not know the unusual status Burns occupied. As the meeting ended, the newcomer turned to Arthur Burns and asked him to close the time with a prayer. Some of the old-timers glanced at each other in surprise and wondered what would happen. But without missing a beat, Burns reached out, held hands with others in the circle, and prayed this prayer: "Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen." [Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, (W Publishing, 2003), p. 101]

So many have pushed Jesus away, either because they choose to do so, they don’t feel worthy of His love, they have hardened their heart or so many other excuses. Even Christians who have professed their commitment to Jesus Christ still don’t know him as they should, because they are not opening up their heart to have a close, personal and warm friendship with Him.

O soul are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There's light for a look at the Savior And life more abundant and free.  [Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Helen Howarth Lemmel]