A House vs A Home

Investment is the difference...  (I apologize for all of the graphic changes. I'm still trying to find what will look the best for the blog!)

As we continue to organize and shuffle boxes around in our new house, the comfort level of being there has really increased over the last few weeks.  I'm making a conscious effort to notice this because in the beginning, our house definitely did not feel like a home.  It's an old one, built originally in the late 1800's, with many creaks, noises, and other points of character that come with a 130 year old property.  Since I've been observing our transition, it has really had me thinking on what makes a home.  I'm finding the more we invest our time in the place, it becomes innately ours.  If you've ever moved to a new location, you know the feeling of uneasiness that comes with change and the slow comfort that comes as familiarity creeps in.  We're still getting to know the place and our roots have yet to really dig in to the soil of our new location.  I'm finding what makes a house, and the shell that it is, in to a home and the warmth that it brings.  For me and maybe for you, it's the people, the objects imbued with memories, and the love shared throughout.  

Our modern view of gathering together in the Lord's name for church has had me thinking lately on where my heart is in relation to the comparison of a house vs. a home. Sometimes I find that church has become more of a scheduled activity rather than an anticipated opportunity to worship and gather with like-minded people.  Like many, I consider myself a member of my church, but do I consider myself a part of it?  Church attendance is more than a chance to check off a good deed for the week and to many has become more a religious activity than the fulfillment of it’s original design.  Outside of teaching and hearing the Word of God, coming together in the Lord’s name in church is to be a refuge for the weary believer who has endured the world and needs to gather with other Christ followers to be encouraged to continue on and to find that we are not alone.  We are to have hearts that are knit together closer than even our own families because the blood line we share supersedes our earthly ones since Christ's blood is eternal.  I like to tell my friends that if they are in Christ, then they can’t escape me because I am in Christ and I will literally know them in a million years.  Imagine that!  Yet, we do not typically see our own brothers and sisters in Christ with such love, let alone the lost of this world. Christ prayed that we would have this kind of heart for each other in John 17:20,21.

John 17:20,21

I do not pray for these alone,
but also for those who will believe 
in me through their word; 
that they all may be one, 
as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; 
that they also may be one in Us, 
that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I recommend reading the whole chapter.  It's beautiful.  Christ prayed that just as He and God were one, we would be also so that the world would believe in Him and see Him in us.  Purposeful love together is what draws more people in to a relationship with the Lord.  This is the love that goes beyond ourselves and serves others so that they may feel loved and not just us being enabled to feel like good people.  I realize this calls for so much humility and obedience.  However, the house of God won't feel like a home until we've invested in each other in such a way that we are exposed and even open ourselves up to being hurt in the name of loving for His sake.  Isn't the Lord worthy that we may embody Christ's prayer?  The heart of the church should be a commitment to each other in the name of Christ and not merely a commitment to an organization at large.  Otherwise, what's the difference between a church and other community social groups like the Shriners or the Lions club?  

Prayer:  Lord, please open my eyes to the true calling of your Church.  Help me to see past my own selfish reasons for church attendance and look to minister to the hurting people I'm surrounded by so that they may see you in me and I may have the honor of serving you.