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Making Himself At Home

             Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23) 

I don’t know about you, but I’m not comfortable playing host. There are times when I think I’m absolutely horrible not only as a host, but as a housemate and pet-owner. We’re back to the same old problem – definitions. What does a good host look like? What are the rules? In this verse, Jesus talks about a prerequisite to the position of host – obedience. I’m not so good at that, either, for the same reasons. Obedience to what? Obedient how? What are the rules?

Some would probably say that the point of being a host is to spend time enjoying the company. But what time is breakfast? What do I make for dinner? Do I maintain my normal routine?  It would either stress them or bore them to tears. Do I make plans for place to take them? Do I empty my schedule and stand gazing at them, making my whole existence about waiting on them hand and foot? I mean, I’m bad enough at this with mere mortals, can you imagine hosting the Lord?

What all of this points to is that I’m a Martha. And it’s made worse by the notion that Jesus and His Father aren’t talking about stopping by for 15 minutes and letting me go on with my life. Their plan is to move in. And that’s my desire, too – but how does this work, in practical terms?

The good news side of this is that while I panic at the notion of trying to be a good host, God is a perfect guest. His presence isn’t about my jumping through hoops and standing around doing nothing in case He might want something. Yes, it’s appropriate for me to be responsive to His preferences, but He also gave me my life. He gave me my personality. Somehow, I don’t think He intends to sit down and be waited on hand-and-foot. There is at least the possibility that He might want to help me with the gardening or listen to me trying to process what’s going on in my story. There’s a chance that He might not be jealous, but instead be supportive.  

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