Live Where You Live

Live Where You Live
written by Jim Dyet
JamesDyet.com © 2007

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“ . . . he blesses the home of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33).

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About every other year my wife and I scope out the Parade of Homes in our city. It’s fun to see what kinds of houses contractors and designers put on the market to entice buyers to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars. But viewing beautiful houses isn’t all fun, at least for me. Slipping footies over shoes before entering a model home may be a cakewalk for young lookie-loos, but it’s a killer for me. I have had the same inflexible back for decades. It might be simpler for a centipede to give itself a pedicure than for me to get my shoes into footies. You can imagine how my back feels after repeating the procedure at each doorstep of twenty-something houses. Ouch! Snap, crackle, and pop!
I have to admit some houses in the Parade of Homes seem like palaces compared to our house, but I am content to simply shuffle through them, return home, and appreciate what I have. At home, the taxes are lower, the yard is landscaped, my recliner feels so good, and the whole house is footies free! So, Lord willing, I expect to live right where I live for a long time.
From sea to shining sea, we plant ourselves in a variety of dwellings—from ranches to retirement villages, apartments to adobes, bungalows to boathouses, cabins to condos, and single occupancies to multiplexes. But where we live isn’t as important as how we live. Nor is what we spend on a place as important as important as what we invest in the days we live there. Sure, the grass may look greener elsewhere, but life may not be as rosy there.
Take stock of what makes the “good life” really good:
• the presence of the Lord;
• contentment;
• a clear conscience;
• joy and laughter;
• faith;
• a well-worn Bible;
• prayer;
• open lines of communication with family and friends;
• a reason to keep on keeping on;
• a grateful heart.
Someday you may choose to move to a different residence, and you may have to downsize. Nevertheless, you can take along everything that really matters. Check the above list again, and determine that today and every day you will live where you live until you take possession of your home in heaven.

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“Lord, bless this house. May the joy of knowing you are present here brighten every corner and extend to my neighbors.”

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© Jim Dyet