It’s 2/22/22 (February 22, 2022). The signboard message for today’s date is:
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OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS ONCE BUT JESUS STAYS AT THE DOOR |
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Once in a Lifetime Opportunities
As this post is written, today’s date is February 2, 2022. In some parts of the world, it would be written “2/22/22” and in others it would be written “22/2/22”. In either case, the date is unusual. It seems you need to take a breath and appreciate the date for a minute. Maybe make sure that you write a check today, or in some other way have occasion to write out today’s date before it becomes 2/3/22.
if you’re old enough you might remember dates like 11/11/11, or 10/10/10, or 9/9/99, or maybe even 6/6/66 (ouch!). But few of us will experience a date like this again. February 2, 2022… “2/2/22.” The next time this will happen is in 2033: 3/3/33.
Sometimes you’re in the middle of an event and you know that this is going to be a high point of your life; you’ll never do this again. Days like your High School graduation, getting a driver’s license and being in a car alone for the first time in your life, your wedding day, the birth of a child, the adoption of a child, funerals. You might take a trip and have that once in a lifetime experience of climbing the spiral steps of the Leaning tower of Pisa, taking communion at the Garden Tomb, or even kissing the Blarney Stone. You know you’re in a special moment. You only have one shot at, so you want to remember it by taking pictures, or writing in a journal.
Opportunity for a Life
As interesting as a trivial date or as important as a wedding day may be, there are parts of life that are even more important than events. We were born to be in a perfect relationship with our Creator, but something got messed up along the way. Genesis chapter 3 describes what happened:
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
… the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
… So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.(Genesis 3:8-24, New Living Translation)
One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Genesis 5:5: “Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.” Death entered the human experience. God’s creation was “good” (see Genesis 1), but something turned out “bad.”
After “The Fall,” the rest of God’s activity in humanity is directed at restoring that relationship. When you read to the end of the book, you see that God does win. For those who take advantage of the opportunity, the eternal perfect relationship with God is restored. We have the opportunity to live in eternity, to transcend dates, to enjoying perfect joy and peace.
Here’s how John described it in Revelation chapters 21 and 22…
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.
Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.
And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
(From Revelation 21:1-6 and Revelation 22:1-5, New Living Translation)
Behold I Stand at the Door
God wants to restore that relationship with each of us. Jesus described Himself as the “Good Shepherd” who never gives up seeking for His lost sheep. He told the church in Laodicea that their lukewarmness is making Him sick, but He still won’t give up on them.
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.“
(Revelation 3:20-21, New Living Translation)
Opening the door to Jesus is an ongoing experience. In one sense “opening the door” is a once in a lifetime experience but keeping it open and continually inviting God into every corner of your life is an ongoing experience. But Jesus continues to seek, to watch, to wait, to knock. It doesn’t matter what the date is or where you are or where Halley’s Comet is. Jesus is there. The opportunity to travel the path to a full life in Christ is always there.
This is one opportunity that doesn’t knock once, it keeps knocking.
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