Is He Welcome to Abide In Our home or Is He Just A visitor?

"And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at your house." Luke 19:5

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:1-10 Those who sincerely desire a sight of Christ, like Zaccheus, will break through opposition, and take pains to see him. Christ invited himself to Zaccheus' house. Wherever Christ comes he opens the heart, and inclines it to receive him. He that has a mind to know Christ, shall be known of him. Those whom Christ calls, must humble themselves, and come down. We may well receive him joyfully, who brings all good with him. Zaccheus gave proofs publicly that he was become a true convert. He does not look to be justified by his works, as the Pharisee; but by his good works he will, through the grace of God, show the sincerity of his faith and repentance. Zaccheus is declared to be a happy man, now he is turned from sin to God. Now that he is saved from his sins, from the guilt of them, from the power of them, all the benefits of salvation are his. Christ is come to his house, and where Christ comes he brings salvation with him. He came into this lost world to seek and to save it. His design was to save, when there was no salvation in any other. He seeks those that sought him not, and asked not for him.

I felt the urge to blog about a very important question that was brought up at Church today. Is God living in your home or is he just a visitor that pops in from time to time? This really got me thinking about what I want for my family and home and about how we can make God feel welcome.

We Have started a Focus on the family study in our church that will take us into October and it is one that have been greatly looking froward to. We must make our house ready for God. We must ask ourselves "what is it that God wants for our home?" God has a design and plan for our home. He has a planed and a purpose for the the home. When He is allowed into the home he makes a transformation as he does when he is welcomed into our hearts. God is the difference between simply existing and actually living. We must have a strong set of standards and guidelines and understand that they are necessary. We must use the Word of God to steer us and guid us. The flesh must not rule us, "All flesh is still flesh at it's best". Everything we purpose must be seasoned with love. We must guid our children with kindness, gentleness and love. When we show our children love they understand that the rules are there because of this love and they can respect them. The difference in one home from another is the ammount of love that is taught and shown. You can not Love someone if you can not rule yourself.

With all this I now relise that I want my home to always be a place that is welcomming to God. Just as we set out to make our home comfortable for our guest we must do so for God. We must fill our house with the Fruit of the Spirit and raise our children to be good men and women of God. We must prepare our children for the day that they will leave our homes and make homes of their own and show them love so that they will go on to love their spouses and their own children. We must show and teach our children about how to make the home a place for God to abide so that they will be able to do the same.