Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
--Romans 6:16
I have described the following story to you before, but I feel like it fits well into this series on the Spirit-filled life. Years ago, a man by the name of Munger preached a great sermon called, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” He talked about the heart as being a home for Jesus to settle down in. He drew an illustration with words in the minds of those in attendance referring to each of the different rooms in our lives—the library, or thinking room; the kitchen, or room of appetites; the living room, a place for conversation and meeting; and so on.
Munger talked about one man who was in the process of giving all of these various rooms to the Lord, including the workroom of his heart. One day, the Savior came in and said, “There’s something that stinks in this house.”
The man replied, “Lord, I don’t know what it is,” knowing in his heart what it was all the while. There was a little closet at the top of the stairs that he had reserved for himself and didn’t want to give to Christ. Inside was something putrefied. Obviously, Jesus was not allowed to see this room in his heart, and He said, “I can’t abide in a house like this with that smell.”
Munger said it made the man angry and he said, “I’ve given you everything, Lord—my appetites, my workroom, my thoughts. And now you want that closet, too?” The preacher said that the man took the key out of his pocket and handed it over to the Savior. Jesus took some cleaning supplies and entered the foul-smelling closet to clean it out. He finally took command of the room. This is exactly what Christ wants to do in your life.
Experiencing the Spirit-filled life means spiritual submission. It means that we surrender and submit ourselves to the work of the Spirit within us. Today, yield your life and abandon yourself so that the Spirit of God can take precedence. Take up the cross of Christ and follow Him.
WE DON’T NEED MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
THE HOLY SPIRIT NEEDS MORE OF US.