Daily Devotions
Forbidden Rooms
Title: Forbidden Rooms
Reading for December 25: Revelation 6-7
Weekly reading for December 23-29: Revelation 1-11
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
When we invite guests to stay in our homes we want them to feel at home. We tell them they are welcome to use anything they need. We want them to feel comfortable and at home.
Though we say we want them to treat our house as their house, we don't always open up every room for them. Sometimes we close off certain rooms or areas of our house. It may be because there are personal things in there or there might be a big mess we don't want them to see. Whatever the reason, we close off certain rooms to our guests.
Our heart is like a big house with many rooms in it. When we come to the Lord we are inviting him to dwell in our heart. He is not an ordinary friend or acquaintance to us but a special guest. More than anyone, we want him to feel at home in our heart.
However, we sometimes close off rooms to Jesus. We have things we don't want him to see. There are parts of our life that we don't want him to change. We have bitterness, malice, or envy toward a rival. We might be harboring an unforgiving spirit. We are chained to an addiction battling with drugs or alcohol or pornography. We have an illicit relationship we are keeping to ourselves.
But this won't work with Jesus. He will either dwell in all of the rooms of our heart, or he won't stay at all. That's why the apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)
So what have we closed off to him? He's standing outside knocking...
Lord, we don't want to close off anything to you! Help us to love you and value you more than anything we might try to hide or keep from you. Give us the faith and the courage to open every last door in our hearts!
