Be My Guest

We spend a lot of time taking care of our home this time of year. Who doesn't love the lights hanging from the Christmas tree, the fireplace covered in pine branches and tinsel, various knickknacks sitting about creating miniature winter wonderlands? There's simply nothing I like more then turning all the trees on in the house and listening to music softly playing in the background as I relax with a cup of coffee and my best girl. We all take pride in our homes, but never more than this time of year. After all, part of the fun of decorating is inviting your friends and family over to see how amazing everything looks. The added attention does have it's downside though (at least from a husbands perspective) because it also means that for every invitation to guests to come see your beautiful home, comes hours upon hours of time spent making sure everything is perfect for their arrival.

 

Unfortunately inviting people over and forcing them to adorn horse blinders the moment they walk in the door is not good etiquette and neither is asking them to sign a contract stating they will only look at your decorations and nothing else. The only option is a mass cleaning. Sweep the ceilings for any cobwebs, give the floors a good moping, wipe down every surface. The last thing you want is to make a bad impression or for your guests to find someone's secret pizza slice hiding under the couch pillow (I have two boys. Everyday is an adventure). When that knock on the door signaling your friends have arrived, you want to present your home in all it's glory; clean and smelling of flowers.

 

This time of the year natural brings to mind thoughts revolving around the need to do some spiritual cleaning as well. I can't help but ask myself questions such as:

 

"Do I carry by Bible around for show or do I use it for what it was intended for?"
"Am I living my beliefs or are they merely words?"
"If Jesus were to suddenly pop in for a visit, would I immediately let him in or would I run through the house trying to close the doors to all the rooms I don't want him to peek into?"
"Is my soul clean or are there sins I've ignored and need to repent for?"

 

The truth is that like a home being shared with those we hold dearly, our spiritual lives could stand to use a good deep cleaning as well. We need to always be prepared to answer God's call and be ready to present ourselves to him looking our best. You never know...that next knock on the door may just be somebody very important.

Bill iii