MISSION:DESTINY & PURPOSE 4

In “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World” Joanna Weaver talks about an article written by Robert Boyd Munger called “My Heart Christ’s Home.”

“One of the most remarkable truths for Messiah’s Disciples is that He Himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit actually enters a heart, settles down and is at home there.” Munger says “Jesus came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light.  He build a fire in the cold hearth and banished the chill.  He started music where there had been stillness and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship.”  Munger goes on to tell how he showed Christ around the house of his heart, inviting him to “settle down here and be perfectly at home,” welcoming him room by room.  Together they visited the library of his mind – “a very small room with very thick walls.” They peered into the dining room of his appetites and desires.  They spent a little time in the workshop where his talents and skills were kept, and the rumpus room of “certain associations and friendships, activities and amusements.”  They even poked their heads into the hall closet filled with dead, rotting things he had managed to hoard.  As Munger described each room, they reflected my heart as well.  But it was his depiction of the drawing room that would forever change the way I viewed my time with the Lord. 

We walked next into the drawing room.  This room was rather intimate and comfortable.  I liked it.  It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a bookcase, sofa and a quiet atmosphere.  He also seemed pleased with it.  He said, “This is indeed a delightful room.  Let us come here often.  It is secluded and quiet and we can have fellowship together.” 

Well, naturally, as a young Christian I was thrilled.  I could not think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes apart with Christ in intimate comradeship.

He promised, “I will be here every morning early.  Meet with Me here and we will start the day together.”  So, morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the drawing room and He would take a book of the Bible…open it and then we would read together.  He would tell me of its riches and unfold to me its truths…They were wonderful hours together.  In fact, we called the drawing room the “withdrawing room.”  It was a period when we had our quiet time together.

But little by little, under the pressures of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened…I began to miss a day now and then…I would miss it two days in a row and often more.

I remember one morning when I was in a hurry…As I passed the drawing room, the door was ajar.  Looking in I saw a fire in the fireplace and the Lord sitting there…”Blessed Master, forgive me.  Have You been here all these mornings?”

“Yes,” He said, “I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you.”  Then I was even more ashamed.  He had been faithful in spite of my faithlessness. I asked His forgiveness and He readily forgave me…

He said, “The trouble with you is this:  You have been thinking of the quiet time, of the Bible study and prayer time, as a factor in your own spiritual progress, but you have forgotten that this hour means something to Me also.”  Phil. 2:13