After hearing the sermon at my church on Sunday, I was inspired to write this little devotion in time for my bible study group this week. Some of the members of our group asked if I’d give them a copy, so here it is. I hope you like it, even if you’re not a christian.
Imagine your heart as a room, a room you have prepared for God to live. This room is perfect in every way — clean, spick and span.
You live there too. It’s your heart, and you and God share it.
It didn’t used to be clean. It was once like a dirty old store room, full of dust and dirt and some big old cardboard boxes you didn’t really want to open.
But here you are, in this room with God, sharing the space. You are both having a good time.
God decides to take a look around. He sees a white cloth that seems to hiding something. He takes the cloth off gently, and reveals the boxes, still crusted up with the thick grey dust of years gone by. He also sees some brand new boxes, still kind of shiny.
You’d forgotten you had put the boxes there. Just remembering that they are still there after all this time is painful.
You know what is in the boxes. He knows what is in the boxes. You know you should have gotten rid of the boxes, but you can’t put the boxes anywhere else — no-one will take them.
Except Jesus.
Jesus pops in and spies the boxes. Wanting to get the boxes out of your life, you run over and grab a box, giving it to Jesus. He gladly takes it, and starts prying apart the flaps on the top of the box. Afraid, you quickly hit the flaps out of his hand and hold the box shut.
“I know it’s painful to remember what you’ve done, but if you want to stop doing it, you’ll need to understand the reasons behind why you continue to do what you do.”
You know he’s right. The box is there, and you know he’s here to help. Together, you open the box and begin unpacking it, sorting through its contents.
It really hurts. Countless times during the time that passes you are brought to tears. And the more you dig through the box, the more things you find. The box is deeper than it looks.
After a long time, you find a long forgotten memory. It hurts so much to recall it. You want to just close the lid and forget it ever happened.
But Jesus takes it in his hands, and shows you that he was there.
You struggle to take it in. Do you believe it? He was there. In one of the most painful memories of your life. It’s unbelievable. But it’s true. He was always there. He is always there.
. . .
There’s a lot more boxes in the corner, and the memories of what lies within start flying around your head. Dealing with those boxes is gonna take some time. What will you do with the boxes?
… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? …1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
So,
that was pretty awesome.
intense really, It’s interesting to take a look at different perspective of religion and theory like this. by that i mean the whole jesus box thing.
I guess for me it’s very universal, I don’t really beleive in a christian god, or krishna or loki or anything as a divine entity that controlls my destiny as i expierince it, thats just who i am.
but alternitivly I respect, admire and beleive in Jesus Christ.
I beleive he was THE messiah, and he saved millions and millions of lives.
in that the world’s morals and ideals are wholy, if not loosely based on christian principles, and had christ not existed, and a record not been kept, christianity most likely would have fallen.
it’s funny how jesus plays into MY life growing up i was raised catholic, went through the whole confession, communion thing, went to mass, even went to a private school that forced us to go to mass on fridays. which only served to assist in my disrespect for authority and such.
not saying i don’t respect authority, just that if someone tells me to do something, and they don’t give me a reason why if i ask for it. they will in fact get an earfull, unless they have my trust. which of course is most likely the detrimental factor in me losing faith in catholisism in general, i couldn’t have any questions i wanted answered so i had no trust in what was being said.
anyway tangent.
jesus, to me is someone everyone shoudl aspire to be.
someone who gives up literally LIFE to help because he truly beleives he can, whether or not it is true is up to your favourite theological debate.
but saying that you culd give up your life to save the entire human race for all of eternity is not something many people, if any nowadays can say.
and with that, i am inspired.
thanks brett that was nice and insightfull.
93’s bro.
-albert.
[…] Every Man And Woman Is A Star Subcoordination of Divination and Blasphemy So after reading a short post by Brett titled Host Of The Heart. it got me thinking about my Activities as of late. Those of you who know me personally know my strange ways when it comes to religion, and such. I’ve dabbled here and there, and by no means am i an expert in any means of anything, but i consider myself adept at a few things. Mostly in the fields of Ritual Magick, ceremonial magick, gnosis and invokation. my memory when it comes to occult history and such is fairly blank, but i do have enough to walk my way around a conversation. About 5, or so years ago i read a book. Now before you click this link, please remember it is not for the closed minded or ignorant. also if your particularly skiddish or superstitious, universally sensitive, or mystical in anyway, please remember that it is considered by many a HOLY text, and not one to be taken lightly. in fact you are not supposed to read it, and i reccomend you never read it again, the book reccomends burning it once you are finished, but deleting cookies works to. also, If you are going to read it and determine me as a heretic then you can go fuck yourself, do us all a favour and click the little X in the top right corner of this window. The Liber A Vel Legis (The Book Of The Law) Literally speaking, this book changed my life. it made little sense to me at the time, save a few sentences, and things i had learned previously. Two Lines stood out to me very violently. […]
That was great… very convicting. Thanks for sharing with us!
simplay great !
Brett – I found your post on Host of the Heart on your blog. I appreciate your insight. I’m a Christian in Tampa, FL, USA and I am discipling dozens of men in the area. One of the things we do is hold each other accountable for daily reading God’s Word. Your message tied in perfectly with what God was teaching us in Exodus 38. Thanks for your thoughts. Keep up the good work! – peace,e
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