Jesus as a House Guest

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Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
– Revelation 3:20, NLT

Can you imagine Jesus showing up at your house?  Take a moment and imagine it.

Jesus as a house guest.

The thought intimidates.  It can even terrify.

My small group finished a study of the book of Revelation in February.  What an intimidating and terrifying book!  But before all of the bowls full of plagues and judgement come raining down, Jesus boldly asks for an invitation to come in and rest awhile… as friends.

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
– Revelation 3:20, NLT

If He arrived on your doorstep, would you be prepared to let Him in?

Like little Martha’s our minds immediately jump to,

What does He like to eat and drink?  Will He judge how I keep my home?  Do I have enough crosses and Scriptures on the walls?  

The list goes on…

What’s on the schedule for today?  Could I pretend that I didn’t hear His knock?  He’d know wouldn’t He?  He’s omniscient after all!

Rather than running down the list of how to be the hostess-with-the-mostest, consider your heart.  Is your heart prepared to let Him in?

I have been reading, Beautiful Outlaw, by John Eldredge and it has opened my eyes to see Jesus in a way that I had a hard time thinking about when I read the Gospels.  Over the years I have worked hand in hand with other Christians to stitch that great veil back together.  You know the one, that veil God the Father tore in two as His Son took His last breath upon the cross.  And all these years that veil has been a blockade, keeping me from seeing Jesus properly, and subsequently keeping me from seeing myself properly.

Yes, Jesus loves all of humanity, but He loves the individual.
Yes, Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses, but He also closed the gap between the marginalized and the lofty.
Yes, Jesus endured torture, humiliation and death for us, but He did so as a 33-year-old man.

Jesus, while being the Son of God and the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is also a man who had to learn how to walk, to read and to nail two pieces of wood together.

Recently I also had the privilege of reading and reviewing, Beautiful Uncertainty, by a sweet friend of mine, Mandy Hale (aka The Single Woman).  In the book Mandy discusses reading Eldredge’s book and even shares about a practice she inadvertently adopted from a friend of her’s, dating Jesus.  Sounds strange, I get it, but what she shares about her experience is a beautiful depiction of answering the door and allowing Jesus in as a house guest.

“I was in line at Zaxby’s waiting to order lunch when I felt God begin to tug at my heart. “Order something for Me too,” I could feel Him whisper into my spirit. (And when I talk about God speaking to me, I should clarify that I’ve never heard an audible voice.)

He lays things on my heart in such a powerful way, I know it’s Him nudging me or leading me to do something.

When I felt His gentle tug, I immediately started to argue with Him. “But, God, Zaxby’s is a little pricey. You want me to order a full meal for You that’s just going to sit there and go to waste?” As soon as I responded to God with those words, I could just imagine him laughing at me. (Yes, sometimes I wonder if God is chuckling at my shenanigans. Often, actually. I think He must get such a kick out of me and my ridiculousness.) “Mandy. I give you breath and life and a heartbeat every single day, and you can’t spare seven dollars for Me?” So I ordered God a chicken finger plate with extra Zax sauce, just like me. (I figured God surely loved Zax sauce since it has to be the modern-day equivalent of manna from heaven.) And when I got home, I sat down at my desk with both our meals and started to eat.

Now obviously God didn’t beam down from heaven and join me for chicken tenders. But what followed was the sweetest thirty to forty-five minutes of communion with Him I had ever had. There was something so moving about sitting at my desk that day, quietly sharing a meal with the God of the universe. There was something even more moving about the fact that He wanted to share a meal with me. Me. Little ol’ me. Imperfect, greatly flawed, often the conductor of the Hot Mess Express me.”  (Mandy Hale, Beautiful Uncertainty – Part One, Pg. 4)

I don’t know about you, but if the Creator of the Universe knocked on my door, I wouldn’t leave Him standing outside alone.  Of course once He crossed the threshold, I’d be a ball of nerve; heart racing, palms slick with sweat and words coming out all wrong.  But once I invited Him to sit down at my tiny dining room table (certain that it wasn’t in the chair with the loose leg), I’m sure my breathing would return to normal and I might be able to focus better on my Savior.

And though the idea of “dating Jesus” sounds a little out there, what better way is there to spend your day, then to focus your undivided attention on Jesus?

So again I ask, can you imagine Jesus showing up at your house?
Jesus as a house guest.  Would you let Him in?