It’s an interesting thing that though God is all powerful, He will not force Himself upon us. Many have seen the famous Holman Hunt painting with Jesus knocking on a door without an outside doorknob. In Revelation 3:20, we read, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” The question is will we respond to Jesus’ invitation and then will we give Jesus the home of our heart. Notice Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 3:14-20, “...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

This beautiful verse (Ephesians 3:16-17) of Scripture prompted Robert Boyd Munger to write the small book, titled, “My Heart - Christ’s Home”. In this representation, once accepting Jesus into his heart, the believer now invites Jesus into his house, room by room. The first room was the study. He referred to this as the control center. The man quickly became uncomfortable and embarrassed when he realized with Jesus in the room all those things which had no place in the thoughts and the imaginations of his mind. He asked Jesus to help and He removed all of those embarrassing items and replaced them with Scripture which he was to meditate on night and day. For the sake of time and space, I will describe the other rooms briefly. The Dining Room represented the room of appetites and desires which were filled with the man’s favorite dishes: money, academic degrees, stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes. Jesus showed him that His food was to do the will of Him who sent Me. Jesus then cleaned this room. The next room was the living room. This beautiful area was the quiet area where Jesus agreed to meet with the man every morning for talks and fellowship. This was so refreshing for the man. But then the pressures of life caused him to pass by this room in the morning, though Jesus was waiting. The man justified omitting this because he was just too busy. Jesus eventually reminded the man how crucial this time is for Jesus to show His love and to be loved and this room was cleaned.

He then went onto the workroom. This room revealed just how feeble his ability was to really accomplish anything outside of simply being a vessel to be used through Jesus’ hands. The next room was the rec room. Though the man invited Jesus to participate in certain activities, he purposely excluded Jesus from others. Jesus revealed that he would only experience true inner peace under the condition that He, Jesus, would be invited everywhere with the man. They then entered the bedroom, where there was a picture of the man’s girlfriend. Here they discussed how the man was afraid that Jesus’ views on sex would limit his enjoyment in life. Jesus went on to explain His perfect plan. Lastly, there was a little hall closet filled with something which stunk. The man said this was just a few things which he had no desire to give to Jesus, since he enjoyed them and didn’t want to release their control over to Him. In time, he hadn’t the strength himself, and simply gave Jesus the keys to the closet and asked Him to clean it up for him, which He did.

The book concludes with a wonderful illustration. The man realized that Jesus was more than willing to come into and clean his entire house. But by the time one room of his house was cleaned and they moved onto the next, the previous rooms started to become dirty again. The man soon realized the problem was that he retained ownership over his house and simply allowed Jesus in as a guest. He then transferred the title deed of his house over to Jesus. Jesus was no longer the guest but now the owner. The man was no longer the owner but the servant. This book concludes with, “He took my life that day and I can give you my word, there is no better way to live the Christian life. He knows how to keep it and use it. A deep peace settled down on my soul that has remained. I am His and He is mine forever. May Christ settle down and be at home as Lord of your heart also.” I would encourage everyone to read this short little 28 page booklet. If you are in Christ and lack peace, take the time to reflect which rooms you have been unwilling to give Him. Release them and enter into His peace.