Invite the right roommate!


By Erik Farstad



"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." Revelation 22:12

The time you have been waiting for has finally come. Your landlord left town and put you in charge until he returns. All he asked is that you remain faithful to his request to invite his son to stay with you and to pass along this idea to your children and friends. Wow, you have full reign to do whatever you want now that he's gone on vacation. You can let your house turn into a party spot or be true to his request to keep it clean and a place of rest and comfort. You look around and see the obvious care your landlord put into your life to take care of you, yet you have this rebellious pull to want to break loose and do and say anything. What do you do?

All of us are given a house to take care of; it's called your life. You have been given free reign to do anything you want, when you want and you can invite anyone into it that you please. God, your landlord, has left you this house for a short period of time. This leaves you to call the shots. He did say that he wanted you to invite his son to stay with you, to help take care of your house until his return. Some of you do invite the son to come into your house and some of you do not. For those of you who do invite the son into your home, there are things about your house you should consider.

When the son is living in your house are your windows and doors open? Is the heat on in the house or is it cold and damp in there? When you go out to work or with friends, do you invite the son to come along with you? Or does he stay hidden inside your house only for you? Without the windows and doors open, how can the son breathe in your house? Without your house being kept warm, how can the son be alive in your house? If you don't take the son with you where you go, how can you stay true to your promise to share with your children and friends? For if you close up your house and keep the son contained only within, you are the only one who will receive the reward when your landlord returns and you will have wished you had done otherwise.

For those who do not invite the landlords son to stay in your house, other guests will arrive unannounced and unexpected. They will come with parties and gifts of happiness and joy. They will make you feel like your king of the hill and that your home is the best on the block. In time though, you will become dependent on them. You will become blind to the venom that they are pumping into your veins and your house will become dark and cold. When your landlord comes back to your home and does not find his son living there, he will pass you by. He will leave you in your cold home, with your venomous guests forever. You will think back to the time you saw your neighbor and the son knocking on your door, and the numerous times you never answered. You will regret for eternity not opening that door, the door where the son stood with his arms outstretched waiting to embrace you. You thought it was silly that your neighbor took the son everywhere and opened his windows and doors to the neighborhood. Now you don't think so!

Open your doors and windows, allow the son to come in AND out of your house. Keep your house warm with the Word of God, by reading the Bible. The reward upon the landlords return will be greater than anything you could ever imagine if you do so. You get one shot at taking care of your house, invite the right roommate!

In Him, "E"