1 John 2:16  Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him.  (MSG)

This morning I was reminded of a wonderful little book that I read years ago – one that has had a lasting impact on my life.  Its title is My Heart, Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger.  What a treasure this is!  It tells the story of a young man who invites Jesus into his life.  The storyline presented in the book is one of Jesus coming to live in his house (heart) with him.

I recall in the story Jesus going through the rooms (of his heart) one by one over the passing days and dealing with the things he found there.  The young man was thrilled.   Remember when we met the Lord we experienced a marvelous house cleaning too.  It was like Jesus had a crew that just went through and got rid of all kinds of junk.  The cleansing and refreshing were amazing.  But then time passes – and the things of this world seep back in.

Picture your heart having a library and Jesus going in and picking up the very books or magazines that you are embarrassed for him to see.  Imagine him going into your entertainment center and out of hundreds of movies he just pulls one off the shelf and it’s not one that you would want to sit down and watch with him.

I remember seeing a ‘great’ movie in the year following my becoming a Christian.  I was home from college at the time and told my mom about it.  She said she would like to see it too.  Well my mom loved the Lord and to this day I can remember her repeated reactions to the little ‘negatives’ in that movie.  I was mortified as I recognized the stuff I had missed.  We got up and left in the middle of it.

I think the thing that is most painful in the book is when the young man becomes busy – too busy – to spend time with the Lord.  Here Jesus is waiting for him each day, to spend time together, and the things of the young man’s life just don’t leave him the time to do it.  As he goes rushing out the door, he has pangs of regret and the intention to make it right – but somehow the days and weeks just seem to go by.  May we recognize just how easily the world can seep into our lives and isolate us from our Lord.