Are you a fan of the HGTV network or the Magnola Network, previously known at the DIY network? If you watch either of these networks, you probably have a particular show that you like, featuring specific “experts.”

You may tune in because you are more interested in watching the interactions between the hosts than you are interested in seeing the final results of their renovation or learning more about how to perform DIY projects at your own home.

It is said that your home is your biggest investment. Many remodeling companies use that idea to offset the expensive product or project that they are trying to get you to invest in. Some people are willing to devote an enormous amount of time, money and effort into making their house and property a showpiece while others are just happy to have a functional home that keeps them comfortable. Every homeowner will acknowledge that there are never ending projects, great and small, that accompany home ownership.

Having spent numerous years, seventeen, as a self-employed remodeling contractor, allowed me the opportunity to enter many homes. It has always fascinated me that within minutes of entering a home it is as though they have provided an invitation into the personalities of the owners. You home, whether you know it or not represents a self-portrait of your true identity. If you took a look at your house, interior and exterior, through fresh eyes what would your home reveal about you?

We are sometimes reluctant to invite others into our homes knowing that so much about us can be discovered through the place where we reside. Inviting someone into your home for a meal or just for a visit may seem intimidating but it is a tremendous gesture of hospitality. Your home doesn’t need to be one that would be on the cover of a magazine and your interior may make “Martha Stewart” cringe but that is not what is important. Welcoming someone into your private space shows how sincere you are in creating a bond of fellowship.

Today as you consider pausing at noon to Bend-A-Knee in prayer may you contemplate inviting someone, a friend, coworker, neighbor or someone you just want to know better into your home. The early church perfected the idea of creating a community of believers through opening their homes and lives for others, that the Kingdom of God could be advanced. Ask God today to place someone on your heart to invite into your home and shower them with kindness and bless them with the hospitality of your invitation.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Mike