You are His Temple

King David’s vision was to build a temple for God. Previously, God gave Moses specific instructions for the Israelites to construct a tabernacle for Him. Once it was completed and dedicated, “The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). David, understanding that the Israelites occupied the land God promised them, concluded He should have a temple, a more special place of worship in which to reside. God concurred but would not allow David to build it because of the blood he had shed as a warrior (1 Chronicles 22:8). Instead, the temple was built by David’s son, Solomon.

​Meditation
2 Chronicles 6:10--So Yahweh has fulfilled what He promised. I have taken the place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the temple for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
 
When Jesus died on the cross, He became the sacrificial lamb for our sake (Ephesians 5:2). The temple was no longer needed as a place of worship where sacrifices were offered. Instead, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Corinthian church, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Co. 6:19, NIV).

The Israelites were given specific laws and language from God to keep them from defiling the tabernacle and later the temple. So, too, we are instructed by God to live holy lives. In God’s Workmanship, Oswald Chambers wrote, “It is perilously possible to praise our Lord as Savior and Sanctifier yet cunningly blind our own hearts to the necessity of His manifesting in our mortal flesh His peculiar salvation and sanctification.”

How awe-inspiring is it that God chose to reside in us!? Because of Jesus and our faith in Him, we have the highest privilege of all of God’s creation.  He lives in us.  Say out loud, “He lives in me!” This means far more than we can imagine.  With that privilege comes the sacred responsibility that we live our lives in a holy manner. We either honor our Father in our attitude and in our conduct or we dishonor Him by living according to our flesh.  “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).
           
You are His temple.  Let the world see the Lord that lives in you, the One who helps you shine as His light to a world lost in pathetic darkness. His presence in us is a fact and a transformative power that empowers us to be His light in the world.
 
Inspiration
What is the mark of a Christian? That he be purified of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit in the Blood of Christ, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God and the love of Christ, and that he have no blemish nor spot nor any such thing; that he be holy and blameless . . . Saint Basil

​©2024 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)