Dwell

January 5

…I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  —Psalm 23:6

Dwell is not a word I use very often.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the definition to see if there were any old uses.  The current use is defined as “to live or stay as a permanent resident”.  This is the meaning I expected, but the word choices really livened up today’s verse for me.  Let’s rephrase using the definition…

“I will live as a permanent resident in the house of the Lord forever.”

Doesn’t that just give you cold chills?  God has prepared a place for his children to live as permanent residents!  No moving, no relocating, no getting kicked out.  Our home…permanently.  Isn’t that comforting?   

I grew up in a church that didn’t focus on the forever part.  It was fear, not faith, that kept me on the straight and narrow.  I feared that if I made a mistake, God would reconsider my eternal address.  

When I found my own church as a college student, I also found my own faith.  I learned that once I said yes to Jesus, the deal was sealed.  No more worrying about getting ‘kicked out’.  Of course I’ll make mistakes.  God knows that because He knows I’m not perfect.  And He loves me still…enough to let me dwell in His house forever.