Is Christ at home in your heart?

Do you struggle with the busyness of life and are left at the end of the day with the guilt of another Christ-less day?

I love my home. It’s a humble, tiny, two bedroom townhome that my husband and I have worked very hard to make our own. 

During the quarantine, we were like many who took the opportunity to do a little redecorating to make our home a more pleasant place to be.

My home has always been my sanctuary and since I’ve always worked from my home office, we found it important to make it what we like. But we also like to share it with others. 

I have a confession to make. While most people scramble to get ready for company, I scrambled all the time to always be ready.  My motto? “Magazine ready, at all times!”

Ok, I realize this is a little extreme, but it brings us joy and peace to live in clean home. AND I’m always ready for company. Whenever a guest comes over… just a few minor adjustments and voila! We’ve made room in our tiny home.

But it got me thinking, my home is always ready for company, but is my heart always ready for Jesus?

If you are a born again believer, the question is not whether or not Christ lives in you.

The question is, is does He feel at home?

Most sane people live their busy lives and don’t worry about the messes until company comes.

But unfortunately many take that same approach when it comes to making room for Jesus.

So let’s talk today about the 3 steps to make room for Jesus so that He is always with you.

Step #1: Clean Up

1 John 1:9 reminds us that “if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Just like we would do a thorough cleaning in our home if we were expecting an important guest, we must cleanse of our hearts of all unrighteousness for Jesus to feel at home. 

Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that we have to get our act together or Jesus won’t live in our hearts. If you’ve invited Him in, He’s here to stay, but do you really want Him in a dirty, sin-filled environment?

Jesus made it so simple for us to ‘clean up.’ Confess your sins and He’ll do the cleaning. 

Like any good guest, He will say “Let me clean up.” Will you let him?

Step #2: Straighten up 

What’s the first thing you do when the doorbell rings? You likely straighten up all the clutter that’s lying around your home. Very few people enjoy inviting others into a home filled with chaos and disorder. But essentially that’s what we do when we invite Jesus in but don’t quiet the chaos and the clutter of our lives. We’re so distracted by the busyness of our lives that we neglect the most important guest.

I used to have a terrible habit of running around straightening up when guests would come over. Then I would run around some more serving them. I was a classic Martha. But when I took the time and employed the discipline to straighten up in advance, I was able to focus my attention on Jesus. 

I still need to remind myself at times of Jesus’ words in Luke 10: 41. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”

My friend, I hope you will join me in straightening up the clutter in our lives to make room for what’s better!

Step #3: Open Up

Have you ever watched those home makeover shows where they take an old, run down home and completely renovate it?  They do everything from foundation to furnishings and they are so proud when this project is complete. They can’t wait to open up the doors and invite in the home owner.

We too should be excited to open up our hearts and make room for Jesus.

When we open up, we invite Him in and allow Him to move freely throughout each room. “Go wherever you want Jesus,” that’s my motto. “There’s no room or closet closed off to you”

When we open up our home to a guest, we’d never think of inviting them in and then ignoring them. We would never think of telling them to go sit in the corner until we are ready to talk to them for our obligatory 15 minutes. Instead, we offer food, conversation, thanks, and relationship.  

We often carry the unnecessary burden of sin. We live our lives for the wrong reasons and we keep others at a distance. I realize that this is what the world teaches, but Jesus’ desire is to take up permanent residence in your heart. He’s knocking. Will you answer?