Rooms Of My Heart

          

             I enjoy my home.  I adore the kitchen/dining area because I enjoy eating!  I love the smell of fresh bread, am delighted with the success of canning or dehydrating food and particularly delight in it being the gathering place for dinner.  This is usually when everyone who is home is in one place at one time.  Conversation travels from one end of the world to the other, with sometimes, several conversations taking place at the same time. 

           

            My den is my second favorite room since that is where I write and it doubles as my sewing room, another favorite thing to do!  It’s the place where my thoughts are transformed from fliting phrases and fleeting pieces to fluid sentences that, if done well, can offer inspiration, encouragement and aid to someone who reads the words I placed in a particular order.

            The front porch is yet another of my favorite places.  It’s where I can sit and relax with a warm cup of coffee first thing in the morning, or a cool glass of tea or lemonade on a hot summer day.

            While my house is not nearly dust free, it is relatively clean, but certainly lived in.  My dishes are usually in the dish washer, floor swept and “most stuff” put away.  We have both a cat and a dog and fur and animal footprints on the floor is just part of the décor.  My house is not cruddy or unhealthy, yet likely, not germ free! That said, usually I have no issue when a friend drops in un-announced. 

            I was reading a booklet today written by Robert Boyd Munger, about the “different rooms of my heart.”  When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I invited him, the Holy Spirit, to live in my heart--- to live in my life.  The article broke down the different rooms with Jesus as guest. The writer was giving Jesus the ‘grand tour’ of his heart, where Jesus was now invited to live.

 It started with The Study, my equivalent of the den.  This was described as “the control room--- the mind,” if you will.   In the “study of the writer’s heart” there were magazines laid around and books out, that probably would have been inappropriate and put away if he knew Jesus would be visiting.  The pictures on the wall of his heart were those of his imagination and thoughts that might not be visited, if he thought Jesus would be visiting there. 

            He and Jesus then moved the Dining Room, where foods were served….but foods that satisfied in the sense of what was important in the writer’s life, such as money, ambition and other desires. These didn’t all match up with God’s desire for us; things like doing God’s will and God’s desire for our lives.

            The Workroom of the heart showed effort, but not follow through since the writer was sure his skill and abilities were inadequate and therefore useless.  He had not recognized that God can use even those skills we have, that we don’t recognize for His good! 

            As they continued through the 'heart house' each room was examined as a place that probably needed some work if Jesus was going to remain there.  But the room that got me the most was the living room.  This room was cozy, a small fireplace and the perfect setting for spending time with Jesus in fellowship.  The writer had planned on meeting Jesus here every morning; and he did for a while, but life interfered and soon that morning ‘quiet time” in study and communion with Jesus became less and less. 

What struck me though, is the idea that while my ‘quiet time’ means something to me because it is here I learn and can communicate with Jesus, this time is important to Him too!  He loves me!  He loved me so much He gave his life for me.  To have me look into His face is what he desires.  He wants to be with ME!

I encourage you to 'walk through the rooms of your heart with Jesus' ......  What will Jesus see?  All that is good and right..... or like the writer of the booklet, and me, needing a bit of tidying up?