YOUR HOUSE GOD’S HOUSE

By Agbortem

   If you go to people’s houses nowadays, you will ask yourselves a lot of questions. People have different notions of a house.

A house is a dwelling that serves as living quarters for people. In order words where we live are our houses. This means that as Christians our houses are supposed to be the dwelling place of God; God’s houses. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, we have seen many used of houses in the ministry of God’s people but the most of it all a house is where we feel protected even God considers this. In fact your house is your identity. When God wanted to kill the first born sons of Egypt, he did not ask the Israelites to put blood on themselves; he asked them to put it at the doorpost and frames of their houses. (Exodus 12:6-7) This shows how God considers our houses. Are our houses God’s houses?

Lack of welcoming spirit: How often do we welcome others in our houses especially when they need our concern and help? Our houses have become fortresses with strong gates and warnings just because we don’t want people to receive others. This is what St Peter tells us; "Welcome one another into your houses without complaining."(1 Peter 4,9). This lack of welcoming spirit has made many not to receive blessings from God. If truly your house is God’s house as it is supposed, you will open wide your doors to everybody. In the past many were saved because they welcomed strangers. Lot and her two daughters were saved from the fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah because Lot welcome God’s servants; Abraham received the messaged of Isaac conception because he welcomed God’s servant and so on.

In the parable of end of days in Mathew 25, one of the recommendations our Lord gave us was to welcome strangers; "I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house” Mt 25:36. Anytime we fail to receive strangers in our houses because of reasons best known to us, it is Christ we have refused to take into our houses.

Cleanliness and tidiness: It is usually said that cleanliness is close to holiness. As Christians and conscious of the fact that our houses are God’s houses, we are supposed to keep them clean and tidy so as to make them comfortable for us and eventual strangers. Some houses are more of dust bins; some can be compared to a market and so on. You will agree with me that most people use the untidiness of their houses to chaste away strangers. If you go to some people’s houses you will know the kind of food they have prepared without even asking because dirty plates around will be there to tell you. Some parlours’ perfumes are children’s urine and sometimes faeces. In this atmosphere how do you expect your stranger to be comfortable? How can God’s house be dirty and smelling?

Hospitality: Some people are good actors in their houses; they have turned their houses to drama grounds. Just visit them and you will see for yourself. Immediately they see you come in, they will begin by telling you the appointments they have, what they are supposed to be doing and will claim to make themselves busy. They will claim to do all the work at that time that you are there or will claim to be one the phone for hours. Thank God for the invention of the television that is helping many of us nowadays to keep our strangers company. If our houses are God houses then we are God’s servants. Therefore when a stranger comes in we have to devote our time to keep him company because he wouldn’t be there all day. It is a privilege to have strangers in your house; so you have to keep him company, chat with him and make him feel at home even if you have an important appointment, who knows if what you will get from staying a while with him will be greater than what you may have from the appointment? To show a sense of hospitality to your strangers, share something with them no matter how small it may be. It may be a plate of meal, a bottle of beer, or wine and so on. This shall make him feel cared-for and will always pray down blessings on you. But the greatest of all is to stay with him because when a stranger comes visiting it is believed that he comes with a message or a motive and by staying with him and listening to him, you will get the message clearly.

From this point, we can ask ourselves if the above qualities are found in our houses and if our houses really portray the true vision of the house of God.