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| Photo Credit: Flick user Barbara Olson |
My house is full of kids, cats, construction and one
messy adult (I’m the messy adult. Caleb is super clean!); it gets unkempt over here
at Bupp Manor. When people are coming over, I pick up the four thousand Legos
and vacuum up the Rice Krispies, but I hope that the undusted baseboards behind
the toilet go unnoticed. Christmas this year brought five extra adults to our
house for six days; family sees the toilet baseboards (and the expired
condiments in the fridge, and the pile of outdated school fliers)! I tried to
hide some of the chaos in drawers before they got here, but family does not ask
before opening the junk drawer (and they’re not shy about pointing out dust
bunnies!).
I’d like to keep a consistently cleaner house, but
something is always higher on the priority list than tidying up every last
corner. Someone needs breakfast or a kiss for a boo-boo…or, you know, Netflix.
John 14:23 says:
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
When we love Him, God will make His home with us. I was
concerned about a handful of family members seeing my mess while they were
spending a few days here; Jesus has come to dwell with me! If I picture my life
like a house that Jesus dwells in, there are the rooms I feel like Jesus would
be comfortable in: The Sunday Morning room, the Tuesday Night Small Group Room.
But the Angry-Place-in-my-Heart Closet? The Selfishness-Dust-Bunnies that lurk
in the corners? The Junk Drawer? I’d rather steer Him toward the Volunteering
With Youth Group space. I always intend to clean things up, to spend more time
in my Bible and less with my TV, more of my brain space on loving others and
less on myself, but the busy demands of life seem to get in the way.
The beautiful thing about Jesus coming to make a home
with us is that He doesn’t illuminate our shortcomings and broken places to condemn
them (John 3:17). He dwells with us to bring us to fullness; He is the one who
can fix and heal and change our broken places. He can reorient our desires and
transform our minds as He walks our lives with us (Romans 12:2, Philippians2:13, Hebrews 13:21).
This week, Pastor Dirk shared the story about the
Israelites rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Haggai. A
few Israelites remembered Solomon’s temple (which was destroyed when Israel was
conquered by Babylon), and were disappointed with the new, less glamorous and
less swanky temple. God told them, through Haggai, that the glory of the new
temple would far outweigh the glory of Solomon’s temple. How could their bare
bones temple ever be more glorious than the gold and bronze one? Jesus would come
to this temple: He would be dedicated there, He would return there during
feasts as a young man and during His ministry. This was the temple Jesus would
walk in.
The idea of Jesus dwelling in our lives might make us
want to try harder to give Jesus more space. Life is already jam-packed; where
will I find more time to give to Jesus? Can I gather up all of my extra minutes
somehow to give Him more space and attention? Pastor Dirk’s encouragement this
week was not to resolve to give God more of our time, or money, or
relationships, not to push other things to the side so Jesus can have more room;
rather, we need to ask ourselves regarding all of those areas, “Does Jesus walk
here?”
Do I invite Jesus to walk in all areas of my life? All of
those rooms in my house? This could sound like an impossible call to spend all
of our time in Bible study or at church; it’s not. Jesus is with us, everywhere
all the time; He holds it all together (Colossians 1:17). He’s already there, but
we forget and live like He’s not. Do I see
Him in the Friday nights as much as the Sunday mornings? Do I listen for him
when I’m behind a bad driver or stuck in a long grocery line as easily as I
listen during my designated quiet time? Worshipping on Sunday morning, I’m
acutely aware of His presence. When I’m losing my patience or gossiping, I
forget that He’s there, inviting me into greater love and fullness in Him.
Adding more time for Jesus on to the endless to do list
adds to the crazy busyness of life. Instead of resolving to give Jesus more
time this year, let’s ask Him to walk every area of our lives with us.
[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]
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