As a story goes, a man acquired a new property. After some time and effort, he had managed to renovate and to clean it up. He had also taken time to replace his appliances which were short-circuiting or had worn out due to wear and tear. As part of the renovation process, he had also installed a new security system that required thumbprint and retina access and could only be unlocked by him.
One day, as he was cleaning his counter-top, the door bell rang. “Oh I have guests?” He thought to himself, “Okay, maybe it’s time to have a party to celebrate my new property.” peering through the door, he saw a group of finely dressed people. “Well, great! They seem to be good enough people. Let me open the door to them.”
There were seven guests that the man welcomed in.
The first came in and scoffed haughtily at his surroundings, then gingerly sat on the couch while giving an disapproving look. The second came in, and laid sloppily on the couch. The third had a pizza on hand and immediately took to wolfing it down.
The fourth was dressed albeit salaciously and flirted with the owner on the way in. The fifth was angry about something and fumed in resentment. The sixth remarked, “Oh what a nice place you have. It is so much better than mine.” The seventh came in as he closed a business deal on his mobile. “That’s a deal. Now money is rolling in! More money! More!”
The man looked about him in dismay. He realised that he had opened his doors to some very unsavoury guests indeed, and unbeknown to him, had thought them to be honourable and honoured guests.
In the ensuing mess, the man did not realise that he had left a guest standing outside the property. This guest did not barge in rudely as the others did, but was still gently, and patiently knocking on the door.
Reflection:
- The property refers to the man’s heart.
- The door to our heart can only be opened by us.
- To whom are you opening the door to?
- Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts.
- Have we invited Jesus into our heart?
- Have we left Him standing outside the door?
- Or are we more concerned with entertaining frivolous guests?
By Brian Bartholomew Tan