Hospitable Heart?

As soon as I stepped through the door, I wanted to leave. The tension in the atmosphere was thick as a heavy morning fog. Perhaps they had just had a big fight or had just received some disappointing news. I never knew what made the issue was, but I was certain of this: it was not a great time to be visiting that household! In spite of the strained efforts to express a welcome, it was not a hospitable place.  My son, then an early teen, felt it too. Later he remarked, “Where’s the love, Dad?” I still smile at the memory of his perception.

Did you welcome the Presence of the Holy Spirit into your life today?
Did He find a heart that was warm and inviting, or just a strained attempt at being polite?
Throughout the day, will you continue to be open and hospitable to Him?

An ancient story from the Bible illustrates this. Samson was a man dedicated to God from his childhood days. His parents trained him in godly ways and he grew to become a man full of the Spirit. The Lord gave him great strength and influence among the people. When Samson lived in obedience, God worked through him. But, he came to take God’s Presence for granted. He became willful and indulged his appetite for women! The women of Israel were not enough for him, so he ended up in Philistia, lying in the arms of a woman who treacherously manipulated him. As she played on his pride, she learned the secret of his great strength, his unique relationship with God. She conveyed that to his enemies and then coaxed him into sleep in her arms. Then, “she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him." (Judges 16:20, KJV)  That last phrase is a quaint one that I hope we will not forget.  “He wist not that the LORD had departed from him.”  He was unaware that he had offended the Spirit and no longer enjoyed the power that came from deep intimacy with Him!

One of the great treasures of the Christian disciple is the promise of the Spirit living in us, counseling and comforting, guiding and directing, giving peace. We don’t have to go to a holy place, travel to a shrine, or wait for some special day to meet with Him. Wherever we are, God, the Holy Spirit, is there.  But, we can offend the Spirit! We can ‘break fellowship’ with Him, becoming inhospitable. How? 

When we are willfully disobedient to the Lord, when we give ourselves to the pollution of sin, in effect we are saying, “Go away. You are not welcome here.” The Scripture says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:29-32, NIV)  In The Message part of that passage reads this way: "Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted." (Ephesians 4:30, The Message)

Clean up your heart house. Offer forgiveness to those whose sins against you still clutter the closets of your mind. Deal with guilt by making a full confession and receiving God’s pardon. Throw out the old sins. Invite the Spirit to move in! From His Presence your life will become a thing of beauty, your heart a place of full of the wholeness, the peacefulness that only God can give to us.

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me;

All His wonderful passion and purity.

Oh, Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,

Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

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