Intimacy

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

There's a precious little girl whose name is Abby Walser. Larry and I love her mom, dad, brothers and sisters whom we have known for about a decade. We love them to the moon and back! Abby is the newest member of the Walser family recently adopted from Ethiopia. [By the way -- she sure can eat like a Walser too].

For me, spending some time with Abby has been a delight as I really want to get to know her, and the only way I think to get to know someone is spending time together. So I cherish those times with her. Abby calls me "Ba-ba-raa" [rolling her "r's"]. Her facial expressions, the way she tilts her head, the "Ethiopian nod" make me smile. She is very expressive, and you actually see her thinking! She's also a little bossy, and likes to take the lead not slipping her hand into mine, but rather grabbing my hand with her little hand!!!

Larry while loving the entire Walser family, but feeling disconnected from little Abby having not spent one on one time with her. Today though - we spent time together with Abby going to Walsingham Park. We went up and down the slide a gazillion times, pushed her on a swing another gazillion times, rode on a "dinosaur", went to the botanical gardens where we saw tropical fish, cracking up because Abby thought we could eat them [again, food!!] Throughout the morning, Abby was calling [or more like yelling] "Ba-ba-raa" "MrLaarr-ry." But at one point while calling MrLaarr-ry, it sounded more like "Laallipop" [lollipop]. We all cracked up, and more so as it showed in her face, Abby's realization that she was calling him "Lollipop" [again -- the food thing]. Well it stuck -- Mr. Larry is now Lollipop, and he loved it!! He (and she) feel connected. Larry's heart has been pierced. He loves her to the moon and back!

After bringing Abby home....Lollipop, I mean Larry, and I talked about how much fun we had but also how he feels closer with her having spent time together. It brought to mind Revelation 3:20 - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." There are some who suggest this is an evangelistic appeal to non-Christians to open the door of their hearts and invite Jesus in to save and forgive them...but others, one being John Piper who says...

...this "is addressed to lukewarm Christians who think they have need of nothing more of Christ. It is addressed to churchgoers who do not enjoy the riches of Christ or the garments of Christ or the medicine of Christ because they keep the door shut to the inner room of their lives. All the dealings they have with Christ are businesslike lukewarm dealings with a salesman on the porch.

But Christ did not die to redeem a bride who would keep him on the porch while she watched television in the den. His will for the church is that we open the door, all the doors of our life. He wants to join you in the dining room, spread a meal out for you, and eat with you and talk with you. The opposite of lukewarmness is the fervor you experience when you enjoy a candlelit dinner with Jesus Christ in the innermost room of your heart. And when Jesus Christ, the source of all God's creation, is dining with you in your heart, then you have all the gold, all the garments, and all the medicine in the world.

How do you buy gold when you're broke? You pray, and trust the promise: ‘I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.’ There is an intimate communion and fellowship with Christ which many of us . . . need to seek in earnest prayer. Because when he dwells in the innermost room of our affections, he brings the power we want more than anything – the power to conquer selfishness and live for others” (“How to Buy Gold When You’re Broke,” a sermon on Revelation 3:14-22, January 2, 1983, http://www.desiringgod.org/).

The tender, loving relationship that Larry and I eagerly desire and want to enjoy with Abby Walser is but a shadow of what the LORD Jesus' desires with His own!!