Ronald Stringer
10/10/08
If you knew that you were going to have Jesus over for dinner, what would you do? Would you go home and clean up your house? Perhaps you would do your normal house cleaning as well as a little extra. You might decide to have your drapes and carpet professionally cleaned. You might get down on your hands and knees and scrub those tough stains on the floor that have never wanted to come out. Everything in your house would probably be dirt free, dust free, and clutter free by the time you finished cleaning.
What about your own appearance? Would you care how you looked? You would probably take extra care while you were cleaning and grooming yourself. You would possibly even refuse to leave your dressing room until every hair on your head was straight, your fragrance was "just right," and the expensive clothes you bought the day before were perfectly arranged and neatly pressed.
How would the dinner that you prepared taste? If you burned the beans or overcooked the bread, you would probably dispose of the defective course and cook the dish again. The food would be seasoned to perfection and the meat you prepared would be golden brown. You more than likely would use your silver serving trays as well as your best china and utensils. The room might even contain candles that are only lit on special occasions.
I am sure that you would take extra care when cleaning the house, preparing the meal, and grooming yourself because, after all, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is coming to dinner. Right? Most people would prepare this way for Jesus. However, they do not realize that Jesus is already in their home! God can see us, search our hearts, and understand our thoughts no matter where we are (Psalm 139:1-12). He is always with us and He knows exactly what we are doing.
If this is the case, then why would someone take such great care in cleaning their homes and grooming themselves if Jesus was coming for dinner, yet allow all kinds of filth, obscenity, and immorality to flourish at any other time? We must have our homes and our bodies clean and pure at all times because God is always with us. We must keep the lusts of the world out of our lives so that we will not be tempted to sin against God (1 John 2:15-16). We should be encouraged to live Christian lives because we now know that God goes everywhere we go and sees everything that we do.
Jesus is coming for dinner. In fact, He is already with us and watching how we are living and acting. Do you believe that Jesus is happy with what He sees in your home? We should all take great care in making the environment of our homes godly. We should filter out the immorality and allow the Christian virtues that God approves of to flow in our hearts and our lives.