What a Clean House you have!

I teach the teen class on Wednesday nights, and the teen room was cluttered from the Fall Fest that our church recently had. So the teens and I played some music and cleaned it out. Why is that important? It happened to fit in perfectly with my lesson with the teens: Make room for Jesus.

I asked the teens to compare their regular house with their "house" -- their bodies, the temple of Christ. There was the typical joking, but then I hope I touched them with this illustration as to why you should fill your life with things of Christ.

I somehow brought up the story in the Bible where Jesus talks about casting a demon out of a person. Well, that demon just hovers around, looking for a body to inhabit. No luck, so it goes back to its original house and discovers that house empty. It goes out and gathers seven other demons and inhabit that empty house.

When I first read that in the Bible, I explained, I was upset, because I didn't understand the use in casting a demon out of a person or asking sin to leave my life, if I'm only going to end up worse! Then God pointed out one... important... word... in that teaching by Jesus. The demon found the house EMPTY. That means, plain and simple, that the person did not fill up the house with Jesus; so that means there was no one to guard the door of that person's heart.

Pointing around the room, I said, "You can clean up this entire room, take out the seats, the tables, the wall treatments -- even the electrical outlets and lights. And that room will be clean -- spotless, even. But -- that clean, empty room will not be of any use to anyone. That's the same with your personal house. If you turn your backs from doing the wrong things, and clean all of that out of your lives, but don't fill it up and make room in your heart for Jesus, then what use are you to the kingdom of God? I urge you to fill up your lives with Jesus, and He'll give you a purpose, and He will protect you from the one on the other side of the door, knocking to try to get you to do what you should not be doing."

I had them pretend our classroom was a "cleaned house", but one that has Jesus living in it. I pretended I was Jesus at the door, while they knocked on the outside door. I wouldn't let them in. I hope they got the point. So,,, what state is your heart in? Personally, I'm praying to help me take out bitterness, unforgiveness and replace it with love, gentleness, true forgiveness and more of Him.