July 1, 2018 – Mark 12:30

　　And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.

– Mark 12:30

　　Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

　　From this verse I understand that if we wish to love God, our hearts should face God in word and deed, and we should give our hearts to Him and satisfy Him in all things.

How Should We Welcome the Jesus Christ When He Knocks on the Door?

After believing in the Lord, brothers and sisters all like singing the song “The Beloved Is Urgently Knocking on the Door Outside”: “The Beloved is urgently knocking on the door outside. His locks are filled with the drops of the night dew. Come on, get up to open the door for Him; don’t let our beloved walk away. …” Every time we sing it, we are very moved inside, and it has a great impact on us. We all want to keep the beloved, and be the first one to hear His voice and welcome Him when He knocks on our door. It can be said that, we believers in the Lord are all longing for it. But what does it mean that the Lord knocks on the door? And how should we welcome Him when He knocks on our door?

　　In the Age of Grace, when the Jesus Christ came to do the work of redemption, His deeds and His teachings spread all over Judea and His name also became well-known among the whole generation. For the people of that time, the Jesus Christ was knocking on their door when He preached the gospel everywhere with His disciples. The Lord Jesus said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The Lord wanted people to repent and confess before Him, so that they were forgiven their sins and were redeemed from the condemnation and curse of the law. At that time, many Jewish people saw the wonders performed by the Jesus Christ as well as the authority and power of His words, such as feeding five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish after giving thanks, calming the wind and sea with one word, resurrecting Lazarus with just a word, and so on. As the Lord Jesus spoke, things were fulfilled and accomplished. His words are just like the words spoken by the Creator when He created the heavens and earth and all things; they equally hold the authority and power. Besides, the words said by the Lord Jesus to teach man and rebuke the Pharisees cannot be said by us mankind. His words all reveal God’s disposition and being, and show forth the authority and power of God. Actually, whatever the Lord said and did struck everyone to the core of his being. It can be said that the Jewish people of that time had already heard the Lord’s knocking.