December 12th Advent day 16

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.    John 14;23


Isnt it interesting that God doesnt love us so much because we love Him, but because we love Jesus?   When we focus on loving Jesus, God can't help but love us and both of them move in!  Two for the price of one!  
It all sounds pretty cosy, but actually when you start to think about it........
Have you ever flat shared as a student?  Or lived away from home as an exchange student?  Or got married?  I suppose most of us, at one point or another, have lived with other people.  Shared a home.  And we all know that whilst its great to have the company and the shared responsibility and the fun of friendship, actually it can also be very hard work.   Lots of compromises.  Lots of debate and discussion about differing tastes and habits and requirements.

Ive lived with quite a few different people in my time.  Sharing a house as a student, with a variety of people.  Sharing a house with my best mate Emma for several years before I got married.  Then living with Keith as a newlywed.  And then readjusting on the arrival of Sam, Josh and Ben.  Each experience has had its own joys and difficulties.    I remember one of the students with whom I shared insisted on putting every shred of washing through the tumble dryer thus doubling the electricity bill for all of us.  Emma and I had to work out a system whereby she cooked and I did the ironing.  Had we not come to such an arrangement she would have been very wrinkly and I would have starved!!   The daily compromises and give and take of married life aren't even worth going into here.  It would take a week!


Suffice it to say, when God tells us that He and Jesus are moving in, you can be fairly sure there will be adjustments to be made.  He is a loving but particular housemate.  There are certain things He wont tolerate.  And other things He insists upon.  

I wonder what it was like for Mary and Joseph living with Jesus throughout His childhood.  I suspect He was in many ways a normal child, but in other ways completely extraordinary.  Im sure He was loving and gracious and kind but also totally intolerant of sin which must have been interesting for his siblings!!   The one glimpse we get of him as a child is when he is sitting in the temple challenging the teachers of the day whilst his parents are going frantic outside searching for him.  Life with the boy Jesus was probably like that alot of the time!   


When we invite the Son into our lives we need to be aware that we now no longer live alone.  He and His Father now cohabit with us.  Their names are on the mortgage.  Their opinions and views need to be taken into account.  We can no longer do as we please.  And He wont always necessarily be where we expect Him to be, doing the things we expect Him to be doing.   


Lord,  thank you that Your name is on the Title Deed of my life. Thank You that you put up with my bad habits, my difficult ways because of Your great love for me.  As we live together I want to learn Your ways and become more and more like you.