Company Coming?

Orig: 04/28/08

I felt compelled to forward you this morning’s meditation. Actually it hit home to me as strongly as (in the words of the Car-Talk radio show guys) a dope slap upside of the head. And so …


Opening House and Heart

After (Lydia) and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us. Acts 16:15

I have a thing about houseguests … being one or having one. I grudgingly think the three-day rule applies. I get anxious before the arrival of a houseguest, thinking in classis “’Martha style” about all the things I have to do: clean sheets, grocery store, fresh flowers, bake something, plan a menu, figure out activities, etc. If I already have a lot on my plate at the time, I can feel put out before they ever arrive. But I always end up having fun and regretting my first impulse.

Lydia, on the other hand, not only asks, she persuades Timothy, Paul and Silas to stay at her house. There isn’t an ounce of resistance in her heart, and these men are virtual strangers to her. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message, and her welcoming actions exemplified that openness.

Whether it’s a matter of opening up my house or my heart, I can see that I am likewise called to respond, as a believer, with openness, hospitality and love.
Living Faith Daily Devotions April 28, 2008


Yesterday my nieces left to go back to Arizona after staying the weekend with me and celebrating mom’s 90th birthday on Friday. We had a great time. The above reading reminded me of that, and further chided me that “whether it’s a matter of opening up my house or my heart, I am called to respond with openness, hospitality and love.” That phrase is for all those days when I don’t want to hear someone else’s problems, don’t want to do some work I feel is meaningless, or don’t want to have a friend over because the house is a mess. I need to respond with openness, hospitality and love to those I meet. God is in real control of events, not me. So despite my feelings, I may look back on those “I don’t want to” times and “end up having fun and regretting my first impulse”.