Good morning. Hers is a horrific story. The severity of her situation was worse than what we would like to think is possible for one human being to inflict upon another.
I am speaking of the story of Elisabeth Fritzl. Her story comes from Austria where she was held prisoner by her father for 24 years. During that time, she was held in a filthy basement room. It was tiny, and it was disgusting. What he did to her there was beyond disgusting.
She began being raped at age 11. By age 15 she ran away from home but was found by the police and they forced her to return “home”. That is when her 24 years of dungeon like imprisonment began. Her story is terrible, inhuman, hideous. When she was rescued, those who found her were physically sickened by the room in which they found her.
I share such a story not to dampen your mood as you start the day. I share it because it brings to mind an important question that all Christians should consider. We are, every Christian person, honored to be the home of Jesus Christ. We are, every Christian person, honored to be the temple of worship for Almighty God. What is the condition of the home into which our God and Savior is welcomed?
Ephesians 3:14-19 is written as a single sentence, expressing a single idea: We should all consider how great and mighty is the love of God that He, in Father, Son, and Spirit chooses to dwell within us. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Please consider those words so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
What kind of dwelling do we invite Him to enjoy? Is it a palace? Is it a wholesome and friendly home? Is it a private and personal place to welcome a friend and loved one? Is it clean and in order, the best we can make it be in honor of His presence?
It is certainly not a chamber of horrors, is it. It is not remarkable for its filth, is it. It is not dark, dingy, disgusting, or depressing, is it. Of course not.
But do we consider that our heart is the place of welcome to our Lord Jesus every day? May His home be filled with joy. May His home be filled with peace. May His home be filled with worship. May His home be filled with love.