THAT ONE ROOM

The phone rings, “Hey, we were in the neighborhood and thought we’d come over. Be there in 10 minutes.”

“Sounds great! See you then.”

It’s always nice when friends stop by, but not so nice when they come on short notice.

I didn’t inherit the “house cleaning” gene. I doubt one actually exists, but if it does it skipped a generation. Pushing the vacuum cleaner at warp speed, I’d gather the collection of fast food wrappers and empty coke bottles as I raced out the back door to empty the trash. No need to wash the dishes because technically…I just did.

Then it was time to round up the dirty laundry. Shirts hanging on chairs, pants on the floor, and socks…well, they could be pretty much anywhere. Quickly scooping them up, I’d run to the bedroom, throw them on the bed, and close the door.

BAM! Clean house!

Living alone, you’re the only one who sees “the mess”. But when company comes, you may need a place to hide it. Since the bedroom is “personal space”, it’s the ideal location. You may use a different room, or perhaps a closet, but chances are you have a “go to” spot to hide things you don’t want others to see.

Some of us arrange our personal lives in much the same way. Our “dirty laundry” left laying around, and if company’s not on their way, aren’t all that concerned. We may think about it on the way to Church, but unless today’s sermon is, “Exposing the Hidden Things of Darkness”, we’re good.

Then it happens.

Jesus calls.

“Hey, if you’re not doing anything, I’d love to come by.”

“Sure, it will be great to see you, It’s been awhile.” Hanging up, you realize that was a pretty stupid thing to say, but Jesus showing up unexpectedly makes you nervous.

Breaking out in “beast mode” (bad choice of words), you clean as fast as you can. Just as the dirty clothes hit the bed, you hear a knock. Quickly closing the bedroom door, you take one last glance, and try getting it together.

“Jesus, nice to see You. What brings you around my neck of the woods?”

“Came to see your place.” He replies. “May I come in?”

“Well, You did say if You stood at the door and knocked… “

“Funny guy. I also said I would dine with you, so what’s for dinner?”

“Five loaves and two fish.”

“No thank you. The last time that was offered I had to feed thousands. But how about a tour?”

“Sure”, you respond anxiously. You’d like to say the bedroom is being remodeled and it won’t be on today’s itinerary, but there’s that whole omniscient thing.

Starting in the living room, you make sure to point out His portrait over the couch, and the King James Bible on the coffee table. “Darn,” you think, “the one thing I DIDN’T dust!”

“Nice TV, do you have cable?”

“Uh…yeah, why?”

“Oh, just curious.”

A little freaked out now because you don’t know if you’re being tested, or He’s just passive aggressive. (we’re always a little paranoid in His presence when hiding something)

Moving on to the kitchen…

“This is where I got the inspiration for my blog post, ‘Christian Cockroaches’.” By the look on His face I realize it probably wasn’t in His Top 10.

“Cook much?”, He asks. (confirming it wasn’t in His Top 10)

“Not really, I’m pretty busy. Hey, check out my scripture magnets! What do you think?”

“They’re nice. So it’s 5 o’clock somewhere?”

As your mind races, trying to find a correlation between what Jesus and Jimmy Buffet would do, you see Him head toward the bedroom.

“Wait!… How about a look at the bathroom?”

“You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. But I would like to go in there.”

“It’s not exactly…well it’s not…um…ready.”

“I’ll wait,” He replies.

And He does…patiently.

Hiding things from God doesn’t work. If you try, you’ll find yourself hiding from Him as well. It’s like playing hide-and-seek with your eyes open. Count to 10 all you want, He’s still going to find you. Hiding your sin in a darkened room doesn’t work either, He has a way of bringing that to light too.

Let me ask you, is Jesus “Lord” in your life? Let’s take a closer look at what that means.

“Lord”, in part means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding”. We use the word in the title “landlord”, defined as, “the owner of property (such as land, houses, or apartments) that is leased or rented to another”. How many of us call Jesus “Lord”, but have “that one room” we won’t allow Him to enter? The place our dirty laundry stays hidden from others, making our lives “presentable”, but not “clean”.

In Luke 6:46, Jesus said, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” Calling out the hypocrisy of those calling Him “Lord”, “liking” Him on Facebook and claiming to be His disciple, yet not surrendering to the authority of His Word. It’s a deception in which many of us have become too comfortable. If we say, “Jesus is Lord” in our lives, we must do as He commands, stop hiding our sin, and allow Him access to every room.

And here’s the good news.

He already knows what’s behind it.

He won’t make you open it or take it by force. But when you find the courage to allow Him in, you’ll learn the wonderful truth about why He waits so patiently.

He’s there not to condemn, but to help you clean.

One Comment

  1. Joseph L Vigliatura May 16, 2018 at 10:10 pm - Reply

    I love this story Dan. That’s how I feel about Jesus. He loves us and he’s there to help us clean, our lives and our very being, to be presentable to the Father. The Father is too holy for us to come unto him alone because of our condition. Jesus is indeed the way back to his presence. Nice writing Dan.

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