Topic: Open Your Whole Heart to Jesus [RICK WARREN Devotional 25 December 2021]

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Open Your Whole Heart to Jesus

“Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.”

Revelation 3:20 (CEV)Have you ever considered what the innkeeper must have thought that first Christmas when he realized he didn’t make room for the Son of God? Here’s how I think his testimony might have been written:

“It was the busiest season I had ever seen as an innkeeper, a once-in-a-lifetime business bonanza for me, courtesy of Caesar Augustus and his census. Overnight lodging was in great demand. My inn was booked solid for a month, and that income set me up for life.

“But then that couple showed up. How was I to know who they were? They looked no different than a dozen other families that I’d already turned away. So I just said, ‘Sorry, we’re booked. We have no vacancies. There is no room for you.’

“I thought I would at least do them a favor and allow them to sleep with the animals in the stable behind the inn. Obviously, I didn’t know who they were. But for all of history and the rest of eternity, I’ll be known as the man who said, ‘Sorry, no room.’  I’m the one who put the Savior of the world out back with the animals. That’s my legacy: I didn’t make room for Jesus.

“I missed Jesus because I was too busy to realize what God was doing right in front of me. It was an inconvenient time for Jesus to show up, so I just pushed him off in a corner. But now that I think about it, it seems that there’s always some distraction, inconvenience, or preoccupation to use as an excuse not to make room for Jesus.

Also Read: Open Heaven 24 December 2021 –Topic: HIS WORD IS YEA AND AMEN 

“If I could do it all over, I would have given him the whole inn. I missed the knock on my door. But for you, there’s still time to receive him. There’s still time to look at your life, to consider whether your rooms are filled with what matters most or if they’re just cluttered. You still have time to reserve a place for the most important guest of all.”

When Jesus knocks, you can give him the welcome and the reception that he deserves as your Creator and Savior and King of Kings. And he will knock, because your heart was designed for God to live in. In fact, he’s knocking right now. Can you hear him? Are you paying attention? Will you open the door?

• Most people have one particular distraction they go back to every time they need an excuse not to spend time with God and study the Bible. What is that particular distraction for you?
• What does it mean for Jesus to knock at the door of your heart? How has that happened in your life?
• What is one way you can make room for Jesus today?

Open your heart to Jesus today

Have you ever opened your heart to Jesus and received the salvation he offers? If you’re ready to do that today, pray this prayer:

“Dear God, I hear you knocking at the door of my heart, and I want to open it up to you. I confess that I have sinned and that I need your forgiveness and mercy. Thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to die for my sins, so that I can be forgiven.

“Jesus, you promised that anyone who believes in you will not perish but have everlasting life and eternity with you in heaven. I believe in you and accept you as my Lord and Savior. I want to allow you into all the rooms of my heart and spend the rest of my life serving you. Amen.”