Have you ever stayed as a guest in a home where the people made you feel unwelcome and unwanted? Yours Truly has had this experience. I stayed in a home once, paid the owner a good price, but I felt unwelcome when we ate, and was afraid to touch anything in my bedroom or bathroom, lest I offend the Matriarch of the home. Words cannot describe how miserable I was in that home – so miserable in fact that I quietly moved out to a place where I felt absolutely welcome.
My experience in that unwanted home reminded me of a verse of Scripture – Col. 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Note first of all that this verse is a command of the eternal God to every Christian. Secondly, note the meaning of the verb “dwell.” The word “dwell” is taken from the Greek word enoikeo, which means to dwell permanently in a house. The person is so welcome, so much at home, that he has chosen to make it his permanent dwelling place for the rest of his life.
Therefore, when Paul commands us to permit the Word of God “Dwell” in us, he is beseeching us to give God’s Word a grand, glad, and glorious reception so that it feels totally at home and therefore comes to take up residency.
- Questions:
- Does the Word of God dwell in your home richly?
- Does it feel at home and comfortable in your life?
- Or does the Word of God feel like a stranger that is only occasionally welcomed into your home as a visitor?
- What are the evidences that the Word of God dwells comfortably in your home?
- The Father internalizes the Word regularly – note the 4 steps of internalization.
- The Father mentors his wife and children to internalize the Word
- The Word of God is used regularly: (a) Food is sanctified by the Word and Prayer; (b) Used before you travel – Psa. 121:8; (c) Read at the family altar; (d) Quoted and applied; (e) Prayed back to God.
Illustration: I remember visiting a dear ole lady in my first church out of the seminary. I asked her how she was getting along, and she replied, “Okay, I guess, if I could find my glasses.” I assured her that they would turn up or she would probably find them stuck away some place in the house. Before leaving, I asked the lady if we might read some Scripture and have prayer. She replied, “I would be so happy if you would.” I took the Bible and opened it, and guess what I found – the lady’s glasses.
In your home, where is your Bible? Is it stuck away on some book shelf? Is it the most important unread book in your house? Does it rule your life and that of your family, or is it just ignored, or perhaps unwanted, and feels totally unwelcome. Or just being used as a receptacle for your glasses, family pictures, etc. Near and yet so far in the house but not at home.
I ask, Does the Word of God Feel at Home (Dwell) in your home? I so, your home is safe; if not, your home is in danger of destruction. Let the words of Jesus sing in your ears.
Matt 7:24-27: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and he rain descended, the floods came, and winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”