Setting Up House

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...”—Colossians 3:16.

Marriage is a fascinating institution. I remember when I got married. I was ready for marriage, but I was not necessarily ready for everything that came with it. I remember when we got back from the honeymoon and began to set up our home. Suddenly, there was all of this stuff that I had never seen before. There were pictures, pillows, stuffed animals, and more lotions and oils than I had ever known existed all over my house! Pictures were everywhere and it appeared that every wall had photos of us, my relatives, or my wife’s relatives. The house suddenly became cleaner than I had ever thought possible. My life as a bachelor was clearly over and the adventure of being a married man had just begun.

Marriage is a combination of two different people bringing everything together. Anyone who entered my place before I married could easily tell that I was a single guy, and the opposite was more obvious after I married. There was definitely a woman living in this place.

The same is true of Christ. Today’s text reminds us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly....” “Dwell” means “to live.” Let the word of Christ live in you, move in, and bring His stuff into your life. But, the text also says, “dwell in you richly.” He not only wants to move in, He wants it to be obvious to others that He lives there. He hangs His stuff on the walls, decorates the place, cleans out what He does not want and makes your house His home. Our lives are to demonstrate to others that Jesus lives in us. We are no longer our own, we have been bought at a price.

Letting the word of Christ dwell within us means memorizing His word and making it apart of our spiritual home. Each scripture becomes another essential part of our house. One verse may be a support wall keeping our house standing, another may be a couch providing us with a place of rest during a difficult time, another verse may serve as a piece of art inspiring us to take greater risks for the kingdom. Still another verse may be a shower of faith where we cleanse ourselves from the difficulties, stresses, and sins that we have done while living out in the world. Yet other scriptures may be photos of the family of faith that dot the wall, reminding us were we come from, and to whom we belong.

Can the world tell who lives in you? Is it obvious to others that Christ dwells in your spiritual house? Our text goes beyond a simple relationship with Christ, but having Christ living in us and us actively taking in His Word so that it may shape and direct who we are. Let us all take a step of faith, break open the Word of God, and ask Him to take His Word and hang it all over the walls of our spiritual house so that the world may see to whom it is that we belong. Amen.