Reflectionary X

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will praise thee evermore.

   Psalm 84 (Septuagint)

I love how the Christmas narrative introduces this idea of dwelling with God, living in His house.

Imagine a sleepover at God's.

Whatever you want to do, or play, He will do with you. Before you even realize that you want some hot chocolate, He begins making it. He has set aside your two or three favorite DVDs, without even asking you what they are. He fixed up a little pallet for you on the floor, just the way you like it, for movie watching, or even to sleep in.

But you are not planning to sleep on the floor. He's got this room in the back, with a large king-size bed, for guests.

When you wake up in the morning, you can already smell the bacon, eggs, gravy, biscuits and coffee. You don't plan to drink any coffee, but it smells good.

You notice that God always has this gentle smile on His face. He doesn't wise-crack with you. When you arrive, He says "I'm so glad you're here!" Most of the time, He does not initiate any conversations. He waits for you to speak, and when you do, He smiles in agreement. You can't say anything that makes Him look troubled, or worried. These are emotions that you don't think He has.

But come to think about it, when you're around God, you never think to even talk about stuff that isn't positive. He doesn't make a point to correct you, but in His presence you never say or do anything that He would correct anyway.

God has a friendly, playful dog, maybe a Shelty, that you love.

When you go outside, it's always sunny, and about 78 degrees. Unless you love skating on God's frozen pond, in which case it's 21 degrees and sunny. If you forgot to bring all of your winter gear, God has lots of spare stuff.

And then one day, years later, you're reading Galatians 5, and notice that God perfectly models the "fruit of the Spirit": love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

The boy-king-Savior Jesus makes it possible to dwell in God's house. We recognize it the moment we enter, for it is the perfect embodiment of every good memory from our past. 

Merry Christmas