The Sala de Estar

        What is your favorite place to be?  While in Spain, we discovered that each home had a "sala de estar."   Translated, it means to be "the room to be."  A home might have a well furnished and beautiful living room with a fancy sofa, lamps, rugs, and matching accessories.  This is where you would have a formal gathering should a stranger come into your house.  It wasn't where the people lived.  economically, they did not heat the entire house all of the time since no one would be in the other rooms, so they heated the "sala de estar."  This is where everyone would gather.  It may not have the fancy things of the living room but it was where the family wanted to be.  I remember one cold Sunday when we were at a friends house and the only heat came from a heater under the table which had a long oversized tablecloth.  You kept warm by staying at your seat in the "sala de estar."  The Lord Jesus Christ had some favorite spots and one of them was the mount of Olives and especially "Gethsemane:"  Matthew 26:36 says,  "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder." 
       The Mount of Olives is mentioned a number of times in the Bible.  Jesus preached his first sermon on the mount of Olives which included the beatitudes.  We, of course, find Him going to Gethsemane, which was located in the Mount of Olives, to pray, as was His custom.  We also find Him giving His parting words which we have in Acts 1:8 and then He ascended into heaven.  We also read in Zechariah 14:4 about what will happen when His feet again touch the Mount of Olives.  We might say that the Mount of Olives was special to the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, wherever He goes is special.  Where do you go when you pray?  Where do you go when you have some matters of life to think about?  Where is your "sala de estar" the "room to be in?"  These places are those that offer of safety and comfort and where we can think about what matters most in our lives.  The really favorite places are going to be the ones where we speak often to the Lord.  We should not neglect these places.  As a kid, my favorite place was the center of the huge lilac bush.  Praise God today for the favorite places that we can go to be intimately close to Him.