My Heart, Christ’s Home
Posted by Russ Ray on July 10, 2008
My wife and I were discussing this devotion I found a few weeks ago and how it related to our relationship with Jesus, that He doesn’t just simply dwell in a church or our house, but He lives in our hearts and goes with us wherever we go. She is part of the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at church, and yesterday she received a packet of information. Enclosed with that packet was a short devotion called My Heart, Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger. If you’re intrepid enough, you can probably find it on the internet, but your local Christian bookstore should have it very cheaply.
Anyway, I would recommend seeking it out. It will profoundly open your eyes to the work Jesus does for us. The story is about the narrator and Jesus walking through various rooms of a house (a metaphor for ourselves), discussing what is in each room and their condition.
After the narrator accepts Jesus and allows Him to live in his house, they start with the study, which is a metaphor for our minds and contains all the things we read and all the impure thoughts we entertain in our heads. Jesus tells the narrator to remove the books from the shelves and replace them with the Scriptures.
They head to the dining room, where Jesus tells the narrator that his accomplishments and awards are not what will satisfy him, but God’s work is so much more satisfying than all those. Next, they head to the living room, where Jesus promises to meet with us every day in our quiet time. But, the narrator squeezes Jesus out of his life over time to focus on work, kids, and errands, but every day he passes by the living room, Jesus is there waiting for him. Finally, the narrator goes in, and Jesus tells him that it is not only the narrator that wants to spend time with Jesus, but that Jesus also wants to spend time with us.
They go to the workroom, where Jesus tells the narrator that it is not he who does the work of God, but God who provides the tools and resources for us to do His work. Jesus then asks about the recreation room, and the narrator tries to hide it away from the Lord. One night, the narrator and his friends are going out when Jesus asks if He can come along. The narrator was guilty about where they were going and told Jesus that He probably wouldn’t enjoy it. The rest of the night, the narrator felt terrible for leaving Jesus at his home like that.
Finally, Jesus notices a foul smell in the house and says it is coming from the closet. They were old sins that the narrator was clinging to and not releasing to Jesus. Jesus threatens to sleep on the porch if it doesn’t get cleaned up, but the narrator confesses that he is unable to clean the closet and asks Jesus to do it for him. The Lord is delighted and immediately gets to work, removing the odor and foulness.
At this point, the narrator realizes that Jesus has made over his whole house and that he is unable to maintain it on his own. He signs the house over to Jesus to allow Him to become his Master and the narrator becomes His servant.
It’s a very good read, and I recommend that you get a copy for yourself and read it often. It will certainly convict you.
