Living Room Intimacy

By Brenda Boen
June 27, 2007

Do you long for an intimate time with the Lord each day?   Well, if you do, you first have to realize what true devotion is.  It's not a duty but a delight and a privilege. And it's not so much a visit as it is a homecoming.

The Lord wants to meet with you each day.  He wants to enter your heart, settle down and be at home there.  He can come into your dark heart and turn the light on.

In the Book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World the author, Joanna Weaver, tells about an article she read by Robert Boyd Munger titled "My Heart Christ's Home".  In the article Munger describes how Jesus Christ himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit will actually enter a heart, settle down and be at home there. He goes on to tell how he showed Christ around the house of his heart, welcoming Him room by room.  When He walked past the drawing room the Lord seemed pleased and said, "This is a delightful room.  Let us come here often.  It is secluded and quiet and we can have fellowship together."  He promised, "I will be here every morning early. Meet with Me here and we will start the day together."

So every morning Munger would be there and Jesus would take a book of the Bible...open it and then they would read together.  All the riches and truths would unfold and they would spend many hours together.  Munger began to call the drawing room the "withdrawing room".

But as time would pass Munger began to spend less and less time due to pressures of responsibilities that needed to be taken care of.  He would miss a day here and there and some times a few days in a row. 

He said he remembered one morning when he was in a hurry and passed the drawing room.  He peeked in and there was Jesus sitting there next to the cozy fire.  Munger said "Blessed Master, forgive me.  Have You been here all these mornings?"

"Yes," Jesus said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you."

Munger was ashamed and asked His forgiveness.

Jesus 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."

You know, Christ wants to spend time with you and misses you when you don't show up.  Your time with the Lord is not a ritual but a relationship.  And a relationship needs to be nurtured, protected, and loved.  And to do that requires our showing up.

My prayer is that the Lord would wake you up early and give you a hunger for His Word.  And may He bless you indeed!