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", the 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 things 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.

Jesus will take all that you give Him but nothing more.

 

updated 9-19-04