We were blessed with, in our new city, a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood, but it is only a house. It is only wood and insulation, and sheet rock, and paint. An empty structure to hold our things. Making it into a home is entirely up to me.
I must work daily with deliberate effort and joy (joy is important) to make this a home. With the same efforts that I made our previous city a home. It is made with memories, with work, with relationships, with comfort, and with safety. I have to pour my heart and soul into it.
Our relationship with God is just the same.
1 Corinthians 6: 19 NIV "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own."
We are temples, yes. Structures of flesh and bone and housed within us, the Holy Spirit. From the moment we accept Christ, this is true. You are a temple. I am a temple.
Are you, however, a home for the holy spirit? .
Are we full of the things that make up a true home? Full of comfort, cleanliness, space for others, and a sense of joy and belonging?
Are we a warm place where Jesus can take off his shoes and stay for a friendly chat? Are we uncluttered, comfortable, clean, and welcoming? Are we open to the daily work it takes to transform useless earthly things into a safe place for the Holy spirit to make memories with us?
So often we are not at peace within our own hearts, but somehow expect it to house the presence of the Lord of creation.
We need to make things right. We need to turn the four walls of our physical being into a home for our savior. We do this in the same way we prepare our home for guests.
1) Clean your house.
No one truly enjoys cleaning. It's a necessary evil. No one is without a dusty corner to clean, or a closet to organize. Clean up.
- personal note: I am not as tidy as my husband. I'm willing to work hard, but don't have an eye for the details. Sometimes I need help. I will do everything I can think of and then ask my husband to *lovingly* show me what I missed or if I have missed anything.
We can do the same with God.
Psalm 139: 23-24 NIV
"Search me, Oh God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts...."
2) Stock your pantry.
Be always full of good things. A clean and empty house is far less welcoming than one that is clean but also has nourishment to offer. Be a heart of sustenance.
- personal note: Whenever people visit me; I always worry about not providing enough food. I never want someone to leave my home feeling hungry. I also never want someone to leave my home feeling like a burden.
John 6:35 " Then Jesus declared 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me, will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
3) Make room.
If you invite the whole world; no one will be comfortable enough to stay. If you want your house to be a home, you will have to make time for those who are important.
Personal note- You wouldn't be likely to book 12 dinner dates for the same night and expect those relationships to be intimate and flourish, you would choose the first and most important guest first, and then schedule the others for later, if there is time. Sometimes you will have to say no to others.
Most importantly if you've made yourself a true home for the Holy Spirit and you allow for that to spill over onto all areas of your life, than you will, without additional effort, become a home and a safe place for others around you. Anyone can be a house. It takes a hard working a willing hear to allow themselves to become a home.
