Make Yourself at Home

Last week while browsing in a shop, I saw a decorative sign that read: "Welcome to our Bed & Breakfast! We hope you enjoy your stay!" I was tempted to buy it for our guest room, because it is very appropriate for the last couple of months. In the last eight weeks, we have hosted overnight guests in our home five times! Guests have included our son and his family of five, my sister, and three sets of missionaries - a couple who are missionaries to the military and hosted a conference at our church, a family from Romania, and most recently, our long-time friends and missionaries to Cambodia. Length of stays ranged from two nights to six. In addition, last Friday night we hosted a cookout fellowship in our home that 22 people attended.

I enjoy having guests in our home. Yes, it does involve some work. Laundering sheets and towels, making up beds, cleaning bedrooms and bathrooms, planning for meals, and stocking the refrigerator take time. But I think about verses like Romans 12:13 that tell us to be given to hospitality, and  1 Peter 4:9, where God commands us to show hospitality without a grudging attitude. Hospitality today is mostly missing in the lives of Christians, who say they are too busy or it is not convenient. But do you know what I have found? Having guests stay in our home is always a blessing that far outweighs any work that was done, or any inconvenience!

When I have overnight guests in our home, I want them to feel comfortable. We tell them, "Make yourself at home!" and we truly mean it. We are blessed to have a home that is very conducive to guests - it is a 2-story with the master suite on the main floor. Upstairs we have a loft study/sitting room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large "bonus" room that can also be used as a bedroom if necessary. It is the perfect set-up for guests being able to have the entire second floor to themselves, but I always tell them to feel free to use the entire house - the laundry room, the living area, and to help themselves to coffee or a bottle of water or snack. And they do!

Since our most recent guests just departed this morning, this has been on my mind today. And along with these thoughts, I am reminded that if I know Jesus Christ as my Savior, that my heart is His home. Ephesians 3:17 tells us, " that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." That word "dwell" is important. It means that Christ is not just a guest in your heart. He resides there. It is really quite a privilege for us to make a home for Christ in our heart. And I wonder, does He feel at home? Or do we keep Him at a distance? Do we say, "I want You to be at home, and to feel free to use every room and area of my life."? I doubt it. There are rooms and areas of our lives we want to keep for ourselves.

In reality, if Jesus is our Lord and Savior, He is not just a guest in our life. He is the owner. All that we have belongs to Him. Are we trying to be the owner and treat Him as a guest? Or does He truly have ownership of every room of our life?

Lovingly,
Kathi