Making Jesus your home
John 14:15 NIV
' “If you love me, keep my commands. '
You can’t keep your heart to yourself. Eventually, you end up giving it away. Thus, the question isn’t whether you’ll give it away. It’s to whom or what will you give your heart to?
Our hearts are always looking for a place to call home. And in our world, there are plenty of options. Money is an easy one. So is power.
But we live in Los Angeles, where beauty is another option. Walk through the streets of Hollywood, and vanity seems to be everywhere.
Or take politics. We love a good politician, at least some folks do. We’ll argue on their behalf, defend them, and sometimes even distance ourselves from family and friends if they don’t vote the way we do.
We give our hearts to all kinds of things. But what does it look like to give our hearts to Jesus? How do we actually love Him?
He tells us plainly: “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Loving Jesus isn’t simply an emotion. It isn’t just an intellectual conviction, either. Love is formed through the habits of our lives.
In his book You Are What You Love, James K. A. Smith, a professor of philosophy at Calvin University, writes:
“The habits of the heart—not the brain—are the center of human activity: you don't just think your way to holiness—you worship your way to it.”
Our habits shape us more than we’d care to admit. We can know all the right things about God and still find our hearts being formed by something else. We don’t simply think our way into loving God. We learn to love Him through the rhythms and practices of our lives.
If we say we love God but never make room to be with Him, we should probably ask ourselves what our habits are teaching us about love.
We can’t profess to love God and still live as atheists.
And I get it. I have multiple jobs on any given day. Bills to pay. I have 5 boys now and laundry keeps piling up. But in the middle of all that, what is most important? What would our habits signal are the most important?
There’s a story in Luke’s Gospel about two sisters, Martha and Mary. I’m sure you’ve heard it. Martha is busy preparing the house and food for Jesus, while Mary sits at His feet and listens.
One is concerned with doing and the other with being.
When Martha gets frustrated, Jesus responds:
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”'
I sympathize with Martha. I’m a doer. I like getting things done. Food has to get on the table. Bills have to get paid. And honestly, there’s a time and place for all of it. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching someone use “being with Jesus” as an excuse for laziness.
But Mary understood something Martha had lost sight of in that moment. There is a time to work, and there is a time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Mary chose the right thing at the right time. She chose what was necessary.
We need to learn to do the same.
Make time to sit with Jesus. Treat it as something necessary, not something you’ll get around to when everything else is finished. Think about dating your spouse or spending time with your best friend. You don’t build a relationship simply by knowing things about someone. You build it by being with them.
I don’t mean to place yet another burden on us. Be forgiving toward yourself. I’ve been there. At the end of day and realizing I had not spent time with Jesus. Repentance becomes a wonderful gift. We can turn back to Him. We don’t have to stay stuck where we’re at. What a gift!
Here’s how 1 John 5:3 puts it
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Loving God is equated with keeping His commandments. But they don’t become another thing to do on our to-do list. It’s no longer burdensome because we learn to love God the way He wants to be loved.
Here’s another way to put it, you can’t choose how to love God.
I love coffee. But I didn’t always.
I actually could do without coffee. But, now? I love it! You know why? Because my wife loves coffee.
I learned how to make it. I now find the best coffee shops with the best vibes and best recipes for her (and for me too). I love coffee because my wife loves it. And here’s the wonderful thing, it’s not a burden. It’s become my thing too. I might love it more than she does now.
How much more should we desire to learn to love what God loves? To learn His ways, follow His commands, and let our lives be shaped by what matters to Him?
We were made for this. Not merely to know about God, but to know Him, love Him, and become people whose lives reflect Him to our world.
So don't let the busyness of life crowd out the One who matters most.
Sit at His feet. Learn His ways. Practice His commands.
Make your home in Jesus.
