In God’s House
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. –Psalm 27:4
If any of you have a mud room in your home, you know its primary purpose. This is a place for muddy shoes to land so dirt isn’t tracked into the clean part of the house. This is where backpacks and bags land so they don’t clutter up the rest of your space. Isn’t it wonderful that our God doesn’t have a mud room in His house? We don’t have to clean the mud off our lives to be welcomed in His home. He’s not worried about our dirt; in fact, Jesus already washed us clean when he died on the cross. God isn’t irritated by our clutter, either. All the baggage we carry with us into His house is something He’s happy to help us sort through. Another thing that’s cool about God’s house? We can enter through the back door. Where I’m from, formal visitors like salesman or the UPS man typically come to your front door; but very close friends and family always come in the back door. It’s not the formal entrance, so in a way it’s more personal. You’re not entering into a formal foyer area before you enter the rest of the home, you enter right into the kitchen or back porch. God is that way. He wants us to feel so comfortable, safe and personal with Him that we come to Him anytime, even in the midst of our day. He doesn’t require a formal prayer or separate prayer time. Our whole day can be an ongoing conversation with Him. How incredible that the God who created all of the universe would enjoy the little, day-to-day parts of our lives! And He doesn’t expect us to clean up before we come to Him, either. The truth is, we aren’t capable of cleaning ourselves up as well as God can. He receives us as we are because He wants to be intimately involved in our clean-up process. Rather than saying, “Go clean yourself up”, He’s saying “Come, let’s do this together”! His love and forgiveness allows us to freely and boldly come to Him, just as we are: His muddy, baggage-toting children. Praise God!