Dwell With Me
Isn’t it fun to meet a friend for an evening out? We are quite happy to meet, catch up over dinner, hug warmly, say, “We should do this more often,” and then go our separate ways.
However, what if your longtime friend moved into the guest room, not for a weekend, but for several months, or even a year? That would require rearranging, or even upending, life as you know it. Our friendship would never be the same again. Dwelling that closely with even a good friend would change the nature of the friendship. It could sabotage it, or it could take it deeper and transform it into a rare and special jewel.
That is precisely what Jesus wants to do in our lives. He wants to abide with us, dwell with us, make His home among us. Not to sabotage our peaceful life, but to transform it into a rare and priceless jewel. He does this by moving into our lives and making His home within us. In John 15, Jesus urged His disciples to “abide in me”. The deeper question is, how are we to abide in Christ? In the same passage, Jesus says that “abiding” involves His words living within us, and doing what He commands. Although His directives are straightforward, implementing them can pose many hurdles.
Granted, words like “abide” and “dwell” may not be common in our vocabulary. Both words mean to live with someone for a long time; both words also imply intentionality. One does not abide or dwell with someone by happenstance. We invite the person into our lives. If they accept, and we decide to dwell together, we can make a home together.
Dwelling also implies constant proximity over the long haul. It is not a short, occasional visit, but a long-term living arrangement. Our lives mingle and intertwine. No part of my life remains untouched by one with whom I dwell. I know him, and he knows me because our lives are intermingled. So it is with us when the Word of Christ sojourns among us, and we with it. When we take the Scripture into our lives and let it be at home, we are dwelling with Jesus; we are abiding in Him.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Apostle Paul says:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The phrase “breathed out by God” is a translation of the compound Greek word theopneustos—“theo”, referring to God, and “pneustos”, meaning life-giving breath. It is a similar term used in Genesis when God breathed life into Adam. The same life-giving breath that gave life to Adam is the same life-giving breath infused into all of Scripture.
Whenever I find my spiritual life taking on a lifeless pall, I know I need the life-giving breath of God. I know I need to dwell with Him, abide in His presence through the holy Scriptures. Whenever I take the Scriptures into my life and invite them to dwell with me as a beloved Friend, I have found Jesus rising to meet me at every turn. Through the holy Scriptures, Jesus came to walk with me through my grueling days and long nights of caregiving. He does so even now, though my days and nights are marked by different concerns.
Therefore, if we want Jesus to dwell or abide with us, we do so by intentionally bringing the Scriptures into our lives. The Scriptures mingle and intertwine with all we do and say. No part of my life remains unaffected by them. I take the word of Christ into my life as a Friend and Teacher. I allow it to make itself at home within me, rearranging and redirecting all that it deems necessary.
As we make the Word our dwelling place, He abides within us. The more we allow the holy Scriptures to live within us, and do their changing work, the more at home He becomes with us, and we with Him. We welcome His work within us, because by it the Holy One comes close. The same God Who infused Adam with life-giving breath comes near. The Mighty One Who thundered from Sinai and yet spoke to Moses as friend with Friend, draws us close. He made Himself flesh and lived among us for the purpose of purchasing our redemption with His human, yet holy blood. He wants to make His home within us, and in so doing, transform us into a glowing gem. Even now, He extends this invitation to each of us:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20