I had lunch today with a friend who was enjoying a bottle of Nestles chocolate milk. I was drinking vitamin water with zero calories. When I mentioned his calorie intake he happily announced to me that he was following doctor’s orders. As a matter of fact his doctor had prescribed chocolate malts to help him gain some weight. You have to love a doctor like that. I’m thinking about changing doctors because one has an obligation to follow doctor’s orders.
Often we call Jesus the Great Physician. That He truly was. At the end of the Gospel of John we are told Jesus helped so many people the world couldn’t hold the books that could be written. He was a great diagnostician. Just think about some of His prescriptions. He told a woman to go and sin no more. He told the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and give away the proceeds. He told a paralyzed man to take up his bed and walk. He told wedding guests to fill some water jars to the brim. He told a man to go and wash some mud off his eyes. He told Mary and Martha to roll away a large stone from their brother’s tomb. He told his disciples to pass out the loaves and fishes from a little boy’s lunch.
So what does Jesus prescribe for us? He said to us, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” “Take up your cross and follow me.” “Let your light shine before others.” “Do not swear. Let your yeses be yes and your nos be no.” “Forgive others as you would have God forgive you.” These are prescriptions from the Master Physician. These are much better than chocolate malts. These are prescriptions for eternal happiness.
The Knocker
Someone keeps knocking on my door but when I answer there is no one there. I’m sure it isn’t a neighborhood prankster. My dog, who thinks it is her god-given task to protect the house, goes crazy rushing to the door to fend off an intruder. But there is no one for her to intimidate. And yet the knocking persists. At times I feel like Samuel answering the call in the night by saying, “Yes, Lord.” But like all good mysteries we solved it. Our knocker is a hairy woodpecker. Whenever I go to the door he disappears only to reappear when the door closes.
But let me come back to Samuel. God can be very persistent. Jesus told His disciples He was going to send them a Comforter. That was the Holy Spirit. However, it has been my experience that the Holy Spirit is not always a comforter but can be a royal pain in the head. He keeps knocking. He is more persistent than a hairy woodpecker. And thankfully, unlike the woodpecker, He does not flee when I open the door. He is more than anxious to come in. Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.” He does so via the Holy Spirit.
A hundred years ago Francis Thompson compared the Holy Spirit to a hound dog in his famous poem entitled, The Hound of Heaven. Once a hound is on the scent of a rabbit it just keeps going and going like the energizer bunny. God is like that. He is on our trail. He is knocking at our door. He is a lover pursuing the love of His life. He wants you and will never ever stop knocking. He will never stop chasing you.