Life is a House

Monday, March 13, 2006

Life is a house Do you ever wonder how much of what you believe is actually true? There's something strange going around in western culture today...namely, lies. The dictionary defines belief as something that one accepts as true or real. But I wonder how that shows itself in my life? What do I believe? If what I believe is simply the set of facts that I assert to be my own, my "beliefs", then I guess I could believe whatever I wanted to and it wouldn't really matter what it was. But if what I believe is communicated by my actions then it suddenly does matter what I believe (e.g. I believe in gravity, therefore I do not jump off of my roof). This is a crucial connection. I think many people are deceived into thinking they can believe whatever they want to and it is completely seperate from the rest of life. But your life cannot be seperated into seperate parts. Your life is your life. Kinda like your body. Whether its your big toe or your bicep both are part of your body and are affected by what happens in your body. Sometimes I take a little step back and look at my beliefs. I know what I believe about the big things in life, like God and Heaven and right and wrong and things like that. But sometimes I live like I believe other things. This is evidenced by what I get upset over. Sometimes I believe that I'm alone and no one can help me. Sometimes I believe that I'll never have the things that I long for. Sometimes I believe that I'll just fail. There's this being out there called Satan. What's his main specialty? Lies (John 8:44). Satan's a pretty crafty being, even though he is the enemy of our souls, and he knows how to get us in a lot of trouble if we start listening to him. He has a 2-pronged strategy; a one-two punch. First, he comes and says it doesn't matter what you do. You can get away with anything and little stuff doesn't matter. So you buy into lie ..1 and do whatever it is that "doesn't matter." Here comes ..2...Now satan says that you are the scum of the earth for doing what you just did and there is nothing you can do to fix it or make it right. What a jerk! Draw you right in and entice you, then tell you you're worthless and make you feel like complete crap once you've done it. The important thing to remember is that they are LIES. I've been thinking about the power of the truth. "You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (Back to John 8:32) The truth is a powerful thing. You are not alone. Don't just read this, stop and think about it. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There is a way back. There is a way to make things right. Really. Speaking the truth takes guts. It takes knowing the truth first of all. Sadly so many are confused about what the truth is you don't hear it so much anymore. I want to be a person who speaks the truth. I love the analogy of life as a house. It's like I was saying before about compartmentalizing. Somehow I think that I can be completely irresponsible in one area of my life and not have it affect the rest of my life. There is a connectedness to life that is inescapable. If you decided to remove one room from a house and put it across the street it wouldn't still be a part of the house, it would be another house. It would be pretty small but still, another house. If one room of the house starts on fire the whole house is at risk. When I invite God into my life I must give Him access to the whole house. Who I am is all of me. The house is another great picture of our bodies as temples of God living inside of us. Lots of people live in pretty crappy houses. Some people take their houses way too seriously. What's inside of the house is much more important than the house itself. The people, the "home" that exists there is what is truly valuable. But if the house is falling apart it won't serve its purpose to protect what lives inside. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Some people don't take care of themselves. Some people take the upkeep of their bodies a little too seriously. But the important thing is what's inside. The point of our bodies is to house this Spirit-man of ours and to find true life-eternal life. Eternal life is not just going to heaven when you die. It is an abundant life that starts the moment we receive Christ. So what's the point? Don't be deceived. Don't believe the lies. The truth is out there. His name is Jesus. He wants to live inside you and show you what life is really about. Won't you let Him into your house?