I Kings 8:10
“When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.”
Solomon constructed a glorious temple for the Lord. Yet, it is still man made, which pales in comparison to what God would have done. We only need to look at nature with it’s perfection, magnificence and beauty. A sunset, a meadow with a horse in it, a party with beloved friends enjoying an evening and so on. A miracle of His making.
God chooses to lower Himself and dwell with us. Granted, Jesus had to die and offer forgiveness. Yet God wants to dwell with us. He could get all picky about this or that issue. Psalm 36:5 says, “Your mercy, LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
Those cultures that have god’s of nature are quite harsh. They are required to offer sacrifices for all sorts of things. I have a friend who grew up in Hawaii who’s family was immersed in Hawaiian culture. They would learn of and follow the strictures of island religions. If they crossed a creek, they would need to offer a sacrifice to appease one of the god’s. There were all sorts of sacrifices that needed to be done to hold back the harsh consequences that could be expected. My friend had high levels of paranoia. When he came to Christ and learned God’s grace and mercy, a large weight was lifted off Him.
God does so much for us. He wants us to trust Him. His love towards us is very great. Psalm 139:17,18 says, “How precious to me are Your thoughts,b O God, how vast is their sum! If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.” We can think wonderful things about the ones we love. A list could be made. If we were just listing traits, we could come up with around 30 for 40 traits. That’s a good list. The list that God could make for us would outnumber the sand on the sea shore. This is hard to fathom.
Many of us have some negative thoughts about ourselves. We may have out grown those or we may have been in Christ for so long that He loved those away. However, I can remember having many insecurities. I had a hard time feeling worthy. This grieves the Lord, for He knows those things, yet loves us anyway.
He filled the temple with His glory. I Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” We are God’s temple. He dwells in us. What a privilege. The Holy God, the creator and sustainer of the universe dwells in us. We are so unworthy, yet He chooses to do so.
We should be so gracious. Are we accepting of others? Are we merciful? Do we see ourselves as better than others? God sent His Son to earth born in a barn. His invited witnesses were shepherds. These were the lowest of society. God still works through the lowly. Jesus told a parable about the way we are to treat others. When those in the story were before God’s throne, they were rewarded on how they treated Jesus. It was explained to them that when they were merciful to the lowly, Jesus saw this as doing it to Him. Matthew 29:39,40 says, “And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.'”
Lord, thank You for Your great love. Thank You that You dwell in us. We are Your temple. Thank You.