Inviting the Savior Into Our Lives
One day when I really understood what
Jesus Christ had done for me, I invited Him to come into the house of my
heart. And, as soon as I invited Him, He came, without any hesitation. And,
when He was there, He filled the house with joy. And, I wanted to run and
tell all the neighbors about my guest and
how wonderful it was to
have Him there. When everything was settled, I said, "I
hope you will stay and feel perfectly at home here." And, He said,
"I'm sure I will, and now since we are new friends; why
don't you show me around. I would like very much to see the
library in the House of your heart." And
so I did.
Now in my house, the LIBRARY is very
small and has very thick walls and is filled with everything I have read.
Books, magazines, news articles, everything I have seen, like T.V.
shows, movies, plays; all the Sunday School lessons
I have listened to, the sermons, the lecturers, they're all there in the
library. And His eyes gazed over all the things that were on the shelf. And,
I was a little embarrassed that there was so much trivia
there. I wished that more scriptures and church books were
really mine and on the shelf. And, I suggested to Him that
maybe I could stand a little bit of renovation in this room, and He
agreed, that maybe we--together--could add
more worthwhile things
to the library. You see, the library is a very
important room because
it's the study so-to-speak of the mind--a sort of control
room for the whole house. It affects the lighting, the electricity, and
everything else in the house.
And, then He said He would like to
see the DINING ROOM; and I took Him in. Now in my house, this is a very large
room because this is the room of appetites and desires; and it was
stacked with all kinds of boxes and things.
And, I told Him I was
always hungry, but I never seemed to be satisfied. And He
told me that it was because I was eating the wrong things. He said, "If you
would diet as I do, you would never feel hunger; for I live on the word of
the Lord, the Father." And, then He offered me a taste of it; and it was
delicious--and oh, the
flavor of it. And, I agreed with Him that this alone satisfied,
and I knew that I would spend less time in the dining room now that
He was a guest in the house.
Next, He asked if He could see my
WORKSHOP. Now; I had a workshop; it was down in the basement. And, we went
down and looked at the workbench and saw all the talents and the skills that
were there. But, I hadn't really produced
much. He looked
everything over and said that I had a lot of good equipment, but
that I really hadn't used it to produce much. Oh, there were a few gadgets
and trinkets and half finished projects but nothing really of great value.
And I said, "Well, if I wasn't quite so busy maybe I could do better.
I know all the tools are
there, but I'm awkward and clumsy, and I really
don't know how to use
them." So, He said, "Would you like to be able to use the
tools in your workshop?" And, I said, "Oh yes, would you help
me?" And He said, "I was wondering if you
would ask me." And, so He stood behind me
and put His great
powerful hands over mine and guided them, and He showed me how
to use the tools in the workshop. And, with His hands directing mine, I marveled
at the work of art that came out. And, I said, "Now that you have helped
me, I am going to come into the workshop often, and this will be a fun room
to come to. Will you always help me?" And He said, "Yes, if you
invite me to, but I never come unless I am invited."
And, so we left the workshop and the
next room we went into was the DRAWING ROOM. Now, this was a small, quiet,
peaceful place in my heart for deep thoughts and meditation, and He
seemed pleased with it and comfortable there.
And, so He said,
"Let's meet here often at least twice a day and we can have long
talks together, and you can tell me about all your activities and all your
ambitions and all your problems — and we'll talk it over together every day."
I thought that sounded wonderful. So, I made an appointment with Him everyday
that I would do that; and I did at first, faithfully. But, then I got
too busy, and sometimes I would forget to come in the morning. And, sometimes
I would forget to come at night. And, sometimes days would go by, and
we never had a talk at all. Now, it wasn't that I didn't want to talk to Him,
it was just that I was so busy and had a lot to do.
Then, one day as I went to leave, I
noticed Him standing in the doorway of the drawing room. And, I said,
"Have you been waiting there every morning
for me?" And, He
said, "Yes, we had an appointment, and you haven't been here for
a long time." And I said, "You're a guest in my house, and I have neglected
you; and I'm sorry." I had called on Him when I was in need, to come
and help me, and He always came, but that was about the way I used Him. When
things went well, I didn't really think we needed our chat as well as we
did when things were bad. And, so I decided that it had been a very one-sided
relationship, and I also realized that He missed me. So, I said, "Maybe
there's something I could do for you; you've done so much for me." And,
He said, "Yes, there's a great deal you could do for me. I was wondering when
you would want to help me."
"I have so many projects and so
many things that need to be done. I could use
a good friend like you.
For one thing, I have no money in the world at all. I only
have yours to use. Would you let me use some of yours? And there are people
I just cannot see. I could send you and commission you to go and represent
me. Would you do that?" "Yes, of course" I replied. But then one day
I got rebellious and I said, "You demand too much of me. Can't I have anything
to myself? After all, I have things I want to spend my money for, and
you're always there needing something."
Now that wasn't a very
nice way to treat a person, especially a guest. And, then
He said, "Look at the things of my projects, and who benefits from them."
And, then I really was ashamed because everything I did benefited me as
well. as others and not Him personally. So I continued
His work.
And, then one day, He said,
"There is a peculiar odor in this house, and it's coming
from that locked closet. And, although you've let me go into every room
in the house, that one door has always been locked, and you've never let me
in." Now that made me mad! I had let Him into every room in my house; I ran
and did His errands for Him; I let Him use my money, and now He wanted to look
in my secret closet. So, I said "I hold the key, and I will not let you in
that closet. It's very small, only about 2 feet by 4 feet. The rest of my
house is large enough
and is perfectly presentable; so it shouldn't make any difference."
And He said, "I cannot stay in this house if you do not give me the
key to the closet." And so. He left.
Oh, I was sad. And, great despair and
gloom and depression came over me. Because you see, once having had Him
as a guest in my home, life was unbearable without him. And, so I
went and tearfully pleaded with and I begged Him, "Come back, and I
will give you the key to the closet and I will
withhold nothing from
you--I cannot stand to live without you." And, so I gave
Him the key, and He opened it. And, then quickly and efficiently He cleansed
out those things that were dead and rotten that I wanted to feel were
not there and wanted to ignore. He cleaned the whole closet out, fumigated
it, painted it, and He made it perfectly acceptable. Afterwards,
I said, "I'm so ashamed that you know what was in my closet." And,
then He said, "Why I see only a house that is totally acceptable to
me."
And, then I knew why I
loved Him so. And why of all my biggest of brothers only
this one could love me enough to clean out my closet. And then, He said, "You
know, I've cleaned out so many closets, but it's a strange thing. I can never
remember afterwards what was in them."
After a few moments, I said, "I
get so tired of cleaning all the time, I go
from one room to the
other trying to keep up in the drawing room, in the dining
room, the workshop, and in the library, but I always seem to be behind.
I was wondering if you could take over the whole house like you did the
closet, and you could be the owner, and I would be the guest and sort of helper
or servant. And we'll switch positions. Instead of me calling on you to
help me, you can call on me to help you. Is it possible?" And, He said, "Why
yes, that's why I came the first time you invited me." So, I ran and got
the deed to my house and I signed it over to Him, and I said, "It is
yours it belongs to you,
and I withhold nothing from you."
After I gave Him the deed, He
immediately started remodeling the house because He was not content to own a
cottage. He was the architect, the planner, the builder, and told me
eventually we would end up with a magnificent castle. It would take a
while to build, but we would build it together. So, He started the
remodeling. He was the master of the house, and
I was the servant, and I
did whatever He bid. And, there were times when
clouds came and gathered
around the house, clouds of war, hate, and sin. And they
beat on the house and demanded entry. But because He was the
Lord of the house, it has a firm foundation and none of it was allowed to enter.
Inside the house there was warmth, peace, and tranquility regardless of
what was outside.
He told me as time went on that He
would move my house to another city. He would take care of all the
arrangements, and I wouldn't even have to know the day
it took place or when. He said that I would' be in a city where He had the
deed to all the houses and there would be no storms' or darkness~; and I would
like the neighbors better. It sounded wonderful, and I looked forward to
it with eagerness. And, I looked back so long ago when I first invited Christ
to come into the house of my heart as a guest, and thought about the many
years it took to have the courage to give Him the deed to the
house. And I wondered why I had been so stingy and had
reluctantly wanted to
turn it over because He showered me with gifts and took care
of all the remodeling, and I was always the debtor.
(Author Unknown)