Once there
was this very wealthy young man. He lived in a great,
elaborate house with dozens of rooms. each room was
more comfortable and more beautiful than the one before it.
there were paintings and sculptures. Crystal chandeliers, golden,
ornate railings on the stairs. More beauty than most have
ever seen.
One day he decided to invite
the Lord to come home and stay with him. When the Lord arrived, this
young man offered him the very best room in the house. The room was
upstairs and at the end of the hall.
" This room is yours, Jesus! Stay as long as you like and you can
do whatever you want to in this room, remember Jesus, its all yours."
That evening after he had
retired for the night there came a loud
knocking at the front door. The young man pulled on his
robe and made his way downstairs. When he opened the door
he found that the devil had sent three of his demons to
attack the man. He quickly tried to close the door but one
of the demons kept sticking his foot in. Sometime later,
after a great struggle, he managed to slam the door shut
and returned to his room totally exhausted.
"Can you believe that",
"he man thought. "
Jesus is upstairs in my very best room sleeping while I am down here
battling demons. Oh, well, maybe he just didn't hear". He slept
fitfully that night.
The next day thing went
along as normal and, being tired as he
was, the young man retired early that evening. Along about
midnight, there came such a terrible ruckus at the front
door that the young man was sure that whatever it was would
tear the door down. He stumbled down the stairs once again
and opened the door to find that were dozens of demons
now trying to get into his beautiful home.
For more than three hours
he fought and struggled against the
demons from hell and finally overtook them enough to shut
the door against their attack. All energy seemed to fail him.
He really didn't understand this at all.
"Why won't the Lord
come to my rescue? Why does he allow me to fight all
by myself? I feel so alone".
Troubled, he found his way to
the sofa and fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning he decided
to inquire of the Lord about the happenings
of the last two evenings. Quietly he made his way
to the elegant bedroom where he had left Jesus.
"Jesus,"
he called as he tapped at the door.
"Lord, I don't understand
what is happening. For the last two nights I have
had to fight the demons away from my door while you
laid up here sleeping. Don't you care about me? Did I not give you the
very best room in the house?"
He could see the tears building in Jesus' eyes but continued on,
"I just don't understand, I really thought that once I invited
you in to live with me that you would take care of me and I gave you
the best room in my house and everything. What
more can I do?"
"My precious child,"Jesus
spoke so softly.
"I do love and care
for you. I protect all that you have released into my care.
But when you invited me to come here and stay, you brought
me to this lovely room and you shut the door to the rest
of your house. I am Lord of this room but I am not Master
of this house. I have protected this room and no
demon may enter here."
"Oh, Lord, please
forgive me. Take all of my house-it is yours.
I am so sorry that I never offered you all to begin with.
I want you to have control of everything."
With this he flung
open the bedroom door and knelt at Jesus' feet.
"Please forgive
me Lord for being so selfish."
Jesus smiled and told him
that He had already forgiven him and that He would take care of things
from now on.
That night as the young
man prepared for bed he thought,
"I wonder if
those demons will return, I am so tired of fighting
them each and every night."
But he knew that Jesus
said that he would take care of things from now on.
Along about midnight the
banging on the door was frightening.
The young man slipped out of his room in time
to see Jesus going down the stairs. He watched in awe
as Jesus swung open the door, no need to be afraid. Satan
stood at the door this time demanding to be let in.
"What do you want,
satan?"
the Lord asked. The devil bowed
low in the presence of the Lord,
"So sorry, I seem to
have gotten the wrong address."
And with that, he and the
demons all ran away.
There is a moral to
this tale. Jesus wants all of you, not just a part. He will take all
that you give Him but nothing more. How much of your heart have you
given to the Lord? Are you keeping a portion of it away from Him? Perhaps
the attacks are coming more and more each day. Why not let the Lord
fight the battles for you? He is always victorious. I have found that
God made man simple, all of man's complexities are of his own devising.