2 Chronicles 6:18
“But will God really dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.”
God is so great. Heaven can’t contain Him. Yet, He chooses to meet Israel in the temple. He wants to dwell with His people. How blessed are they. Fallible, self centered people have a God that wants them.
Then comes the miracle of the New Covenant. He wants to dwell within each heart. Even a greater privilege. Here’s the invitation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” The almighty God, the creator and sustainer of all wants to enter each life. Just as Solomon was amazed that God would choose to abide in the temple so we should be amazed that God would seek to enter our lives.
How does one do that? Just ask. Jesus already gave the invitation. It’s there for everyone for all of time. “Lord, thank You for offering to enter my life. Please come in and forgive my sins and be my Lord.” That would do it.
He already died on the cross and wants to offer forgiveness. We have to admit that we need that and ask His to do so. If we sought to pay for our own sins our sentence would be for all eternity. Nothing short. So, we can’t pay for our own sins and have a good outcome. We need help. That’s why He came and died.
The other condition that God has is that we make Him our lord. He’s the boss. If we’re open to that we can be certain that He came in upon the asking. I acknowledge that giving up control of one’s life might cause some concern. Here are some reasons why we needn’t be.
He gave ten commandments to follow. He gave them in the negative, don’t do this or don’t do that. That’s quite merciful. In doing so, it leaves all else open to do. Jesus reduced it even more, by consolidating them into two commands. To love God and to love others.
What else happens upon conversion? He gives us a new heart. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh”, (Ezekiel 36:26). This is amazing. We become a chip off the old block. We become like our old man (God).
God is so loving and so good. He pours with in us the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control”, (Galatians 5:22,23). He can put all that in us because He is all those things. This may be a stretch to know this, but in time we experience it.
Each day is a journey with Him. We wake up thanking for yesterday and ask Him to be with us today. He wants to. We see that in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This doesn’t mean all goes rosey. We can be confident He’s in it. It’s ok to seek to sway things to our advantage, as long as it doesn’t negatively influence others. I found out yesterday that I may not get my free periods off after lunch. At least on two days I’ll get off at 3:15. Unfortunate, but not unexpected. I will pray for it and ask the assistant principal about it. If not, He will work it out for the good somehow. I’ll trust Him to do so. I may find out why or I may not.
Going back to guaranteed salvation. I can recall as an 17 year old being concerned about death and where I would go. I responded to an altar call at a christian concert. I saw it as a challenge. If going up front put me on God’s side, I wanted that. However, what I’d done didn’t sink in for a while. God knew. I began bumping into christians and learning things. As I began to learn of the “eternal security” concept I was blown away. “I could be assured of salvation upon death? Really? Yes. This isn’t arrogant, it’s faith. Faith in His work and promises. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” That’s why it’s called the good news. It certainly is.
As Solomon was inquiring of God to dwell in the temple and thanking Him for it, so do we. He chooses to dwell with us. I heard the experience described as “The christian walk”. Genesis 3:8 says, “Now they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Because our sins are forgiven, we no longer have to hide. We join Him in the walk. That’s our daily experience. Sometimes we sense Him, sometimes not. But He’s there. Even closer, in our hearts. We are His temples.
Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness, for the way You’ve made for us. Thank You for abiding with us.