Lesson 89. May I Enter This Room?

As I study the third chapter of Revelation, I come to understand that Jesus is standing at the door of my heart and knocking, desiring me to open it to Him. As I read these lines of Scripture, I realize that I must open the door to the Savior. I invite Jesus into my heart. I ask Him to enter my life. I pray that He will come through this door, and I believe that He has done so. This becomes a reality in my life because the Lord desires to answer such prayers. He waits for them. I rejoice. The Lord is in my home; we eat supper together, we fellowship, and we look into each other’s eyes.

Then I decide that I have achieved something special and calmly go to sleep in my little bed, while my dear Guest remains alone at the dining table. The main thing is that He is already in my home and that I opened the door to Him.

I rejoice over this event. I tell all my friends what has happened, but few understand me. Every morning I invite Jesus to breakfast again. During the day we do various things together, and in the evening we sit down to supper once more and discuss everything I experienced. I am delighted with this new life!

But then strange things begin to happen. After several days, Jesus approaches a locked door leading to a private room where I cannot allow anyone to enter. This room is called “my phone.” Christ stands beside it and begins to knock, saying, “May I enter this room?” I shrink back. I become very frightened. I understand that all my secret activities, all my messages, and my entire browsing history are about to be exposed. I try to distract Christ from this idea and reply, “Let us go to the prayer room; its door is always open to You.” But He answers, “I need to enter the locked room and see what is happening there.” A cold sweat breaks over me. I suddenly realize that my Friend will not like many things on my devices. Yet He continues knocking and calling. What should I do? I am resourceful, however, and decide to open the door. I let Christ in and begin showing Him various Bible versions, the Spirit of Prophecy app, and Sabbath School lessons. I suggest that we sing Hymns of Hope together. But He does not appear very interested in any of this. He does not even pay attention to those apps. Jesus stands at the door of my social media page and begins knocking, saying, “May I enter this room?” I am speechless. “Lord, look at my prayer journal. What wonderful experiences and answers it contains!” But He asks me to show Him my photo albums and social media messages. Why this particular place? This is my private space; this is my spiritual world! Yet He stands and knocks. Once again, I use my resourcefulness: I open the door and show Him how I answer assignments in the School of Agape Love. But He moves toward a place none of my friends has ever entered. I am so ashamed. Jesus’ presence fills this room with light. I see how dirty it is, lower my eyes, and burn with shame. Smiling, He asks, “May I put this place in order?” I consent, and He quickly vacuums everything before moving directly toward the photo album. This is too much! My heart sinks; I understand what is about to happen. He stands at the door and knocks, saying, “May I enter here too?” I open this door as well and begin showing Him photographs of nature, flowers, and the sky. But once again He looks into the place where everything is hidden from other people’s eyes. It feels as though the ground has disappeared beneath me. Smiling, Jesus asks permission to put that place in order. I lower my eyes and consent, but now I begin cleaning it myself. Then insight comes, and I run ahead of Christ with a mop, trying to sweep out every dirty corner revealed in the light of the Savior’s presence. He follows with a vacuum cleaner, cleansing those places after me and making them perfectly beautiful. I am no longer afraid. Jesus does not scold me for my mistakes and past sins; He gently offers to help me get rid of them. I consent.

Christ asks whether I would like to delete my favorite devices from my life forever. It hurts deeply to hear this, but I decide to consent.

Jesus then proceeds toward the most private part of my home. He approaches the door to my YouTube channel, stands before it, and begins knocking. I am speechless. Not this! Once again, I hear the familiar question. I consent. I had managed to delete my viewing history and had even clicked on several useful videos. But suddenly I see that my entire history has been preserved, and in His light it appears in fiery letters testifying against me. He carefully examines what I watch, what I like, how much time I spend doing it, and what influence it has upon me. I fall to my knees and ask for forgiveness. I am so ashamed that I betrayed His sacred trust by feeding my mind in our enemy’s dining hall. Sadly, Jesus tells me that we can delete these things from the phone’s memory, but they will remain in my memory forever. The enemy of souls will continually revive them in my mind, trying to distort and damage it. All these films and videos have exerted their influence and opened my mind to the knowledge of sin. They have dulled my perception, and now evil can easily enter me without permission, destroying my life and happiness. But Jesus assures me that His grace will be sufficient to fight this filth if I remain in constant fellowship with Him. My heart is moved, and I ask Him to cleanse me and fill my mind with love. He agrees. I see that love has the power to think about what is pure and right. Love begins to create something very important, new, beautiful, and wonderful in my life.

I plunge into its pure waters and forget my entire sinful past. My dear Friend plunges in with me, and we swim. He does not remind me of my former mistakes. I see that when we reach the deepest point of the boundless sea, He takes out my sins and casts them into the water, tying to them the stones of His faithfulness to His promises. I feel ashamed and joyful. I understand that I am clean.

I return to my home. How pleasant it is to live in cleanliness. I walk through the tidy rooms and invite Jesus into them, while He laughs joyfully in reply and asks me not to relax my vigilance. Suddenly I realize that not every room in my home has yet been opened to the Lord. The thought makes me feel terrible. I tense up, but He gently asks, “Will you let Me into these chambers too?” How ashamed I am. Tears fill my eyes. Why am I so filthy? But I am no longer afraid. I know how Christ loves me, and this helps me consent. I nod and lose my peace at the thought of the disgrace ahead. Yet I understand that I must pass through this fire as well. I look at Jesus and become calm. He will do me no harm. With Him I can do all things.

1. What did you understand from this lesson?

2. Is it enough merely to let Christ into my life and then rest content?

3. Should I wait for Jesus to ask questions, or is it better to invite Him myself to put my heart in order?

4. Are there “locked rooms” in your life where you do not want to let anyone enter—not even Jesus?

5. What should I do if Jesus is knocking but I do not want to open the door?

6. May I knock on the locked doors of my friends?

7. Please read Hebrews 3:14–15; Matthew 9:13; Romans 2:3–6; Micah 7:18–19; and Isaiah 1:16–18 in the light of our lesson.