Roommates

It’s that time of year when college students are picking roommates. Finding the right person to share your living space is a lot like finding a short-term spouse. Most young people are more absorbed in their own concerns, desires, and feelings than those of others. How is this going to affect me, my future, and my popularity among my peers? Two or more self-centered individuals sharing a living space is a recipe for discord.

By the time we are ready for a spouse, we hope to find a mature individual who can admit: “It’s not all about me.” We want an ‘other-centered’ partner who is willing to revolve around us. Most of us settle for a world-centered spouse—someone who is willing to extend his/her boundaries beyond self-interest and include us, our children, our friends, and our worldly concerns.

Yet, there is an even better living arrangement.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.” (John 15:4 MSG)
“If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. (John 15:18-19 MSG)

 

Jesus has asked us to move in with Him, to live a God-centered life. Living on God’s terms involves giving up living on our own terms and rejecting the world’s terms. This is not easy or fun. I can see why most of us are reluctant to be roommates with Jesus.