John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and WE WILL COME TO HIM AND MAKE OUR HOME WITH HIM. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
“You heard me say to you, I go away, and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”
Make our home with him
Faith is a gift from God. Many of us grew up in a family with faith, as something shared with us. We learned to read the Bible; we were taken to Church; we prayed before bed. Others did not grow up with faith. Nevertheless, we can all find ourselves asking whether God knows us personally. Does God really care about me? Do I matter to him?
Faith can also mean that you need to respond, to answer God’s call. Faith is your “Yes” to God. Jesus comes to us from God, to show us the way to answer God’s invitation. This is when faith becomes personal.
These words of Jesus, spoken as he faced his own death, speak from his heart to our heart. He is broken on the Cross, pierced in his heart, and laid in the tomb. Jesus shows us that faith is not just a belief about God, it is a gift offered at a sacrifice. Even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you. For God, faith is very personal.
Jesus promises that he and his Father will come and make their home with us. Imagine how our hearts, sometimes indifferent or hardened, sometimes lost in sin, sometimes drowned in despair, can actually be opened to receive God. Now God doesn’t wait until we’re perfect to come to us.
God waits to come in. And think of how incredible is this offer: God will come to make His home with us. We receive His Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, our teacher. This is personal: and nothing will ever be the same.