When my four kids were younger, you would find our house routinely messy. It wasn’t intentional, but it was our life. Between the baby dolls and legos, diaper boxes and baby bottles, homework, dishes, and laundry; even with two very engaged parents, keeping up with it all was a lot. 

Maybe you have found yourself in a similar spot? Or maybe you are in that season of life now? I promise you, the days are long but the years are short! Back then, my wife and I stayed up late and prayed we could get the kids asleep. Now we stay up late to wait on the kids to come home, and pray we don’t fall asleep! 

“So the Word became human and made his home among us.”  -John 1:14 (NLT)

The Bible opens with this beautiful picture of a home, where everything was perfect before it became messy and very chaotic. Throughout the scriptures, we see the God of the Bible setting aside a ‘place’ [sometimes not always in ideal locations] for the people to call ‘home’. Then in dramatic fashion, Jesus [the Word in John’s gospel] came to Earth to ‘reside’ or ‘make his home among us’.

Jesus wanted to not just be known by humanity, but to be near them, with them, and love them, despite how messy and chaotic. Jesus didn’t need the world to be perfect before demonstrating His love for humanity. 

My encouragement to us all is to take our cues from Jesus. Let’s demonstrate love and grace to one another in our homes, no matter how messy or chaotic they often tend to be!

Jason Stockdale 

Lead Pastor 

Grace Hill Church

www.gracehill901.com