Once there was this very wealthy young man. He lived in a great, elaborate house with dozens of rooms. Each room was more comfortable and more beautiful than the one before it. There were paintings and sculptures everywhere. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and golden, ornate, railings adorned the stairs. One day the young man decided to invite the Lord into his house to stay with him. When the Lord arrived, he give Him the very best room in the house, upstairs at the end of the great hall. When they reached the room, he flung open the door with a grand gesture and proclaimed, "This room is yours, Jesus! Stay as long as you like and do whatever you want to in this room. Remember Jesus, this room is all yours." That evening after the young man went to bed there was a loud knocking at the front door. He pulled on his robe and went downstairs. When he opened the door he found three demons that had been sent to attack him. He quickly tried to close the door, but they pressed against it and he wasn’t able to get it closed. Finally, after a great struggle, he managed to slam the door shut. Exhausted, he returned to his room. "Can you believe that," "he thought. "Jesus is my very best bedroom sleeping while I’m battling demons. Oh, well, maybe He just didn't hear." He slept fitfully the rest of the night. The next day things went along normal and, being tired from the previous nights battle, he went to bed early. About midnight, there was such a terrible ruckus at the front door that the young man was sure that whatever it was would tear the door down. He hurried down the stairs and opened the door to find that were now dozens of demons trying to get into his beautiful house. For more than three hours he fought and struggled against the demons from Satan. At long last he fought them off enough to shut the door against their attack. He was now totally exhausted, almost without any strength left. He really didn't understand this at all. "Why won't the Lord come to my rescue? Why does he allow me to fight all by myself? I feel so alone." Troubled, he made his way to a sofa and fell into a restless sleep. The next morning, he decided to ask the Lord about the events of the last two nights. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door of the elegant bedroom where he had left Jesus. When Jesus opened the door, he said, "Lord, I don't understand what is happening. For the last two nights I have had to fight demons away from my door while you laid up here sleeping. Don't you care about me? Didn’t I give you the very best room in the house?" He could see tears building in Jesus' eyes but continued on, "I just don't understand, I really thought that once I invited you into my house that you would take care of me. I even gave you the best room and everything. What more can I do?" "My precious child," Jesus said softly. "I do love and care for you. I protect all that you have released into My care. But when you invited me to live with you, you brought me to this one room and shut the door to the rest of your house. I am Lord of this room, but I am not Master of this house. I have protected this room, and no demon may enter here." "Oh, Lord, please forgive me." cried the young man. "Take all of my house—it’s Yours. I’m so sorry that I never offered you everything to begin with. I want you to have control of all that have." With that he flung open the bedroom door and knelt at Jesus' feet. "Please forgive me, Lord, for being so selfish." Jesus smiled and told him that He had already forgiven him and that He would take care of things from now on. That night as the young man prepared for bed he thought, "I wonder if those demons will return, I’m so tired of fighting them every night." Along about midnight a banging on the door shook the entire house, and a roaring voice, terrible in its sound, shouted demands to be let in. The young man scrambled out of his room, just in time to see Jesus going down the stairs. He watched as Jesus swung open the door without seeming concern of who was there. It was Satan himself, and a horde of his demons. "What do you want, Satan?" the Lord asked. The devil bowed low before Him, scraping the concrete steps, and whined, "I seem to have gotten the wrong address." And with that, he and the demons ran away, screeching in terror.
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