It’s getting very close to that special time of year.”
–Gladys Knight
“Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…You do not own yourself” (1 Cor. 6:19 Voice).
With war raging right now in the Holy Land between Israel and Hamas, anchored in the Gaza Strip, I cannot help but reflect that at this time last year, Betty and I had just returned from our third visit to the Holy Land. During our visit, we prayed at the Western, aka Wailing Wall. In Matthew 24, as Jesus is leaving the Temple grounds, and his disciples point out the various buildings to him, he foretells the impending destruction of the Temple.
Today, the Western Wall is about all that is left of the magnificent temple that glistened majestically in the sunlight when Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover before His crucifixion. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A. D., about 40 years after the crucifixion, as Jesus had predicted. But it had long been the House of God, where people came from nations far and near to worship God. It was the sacred place of worship. Jesus referred to it as God’s House and as the House of Prayer (Matt. 21:13). The temple was the permanent version of the Tabernacle that Moses constructed earlier in the wilderness. The scriptures devote more room to describing and outlining instructions regarding the Tabernacle than to any other single subject. Caring for the House of God then is of great importance to God.
And now, we are the Temple, the House of God! He dwells in you and me! How should we care for God’s House? Should our attitude be, “It’s my body, I’ll treat it as I please? I don’t have to exercise regularly. I will eat as much as I want, as often as I want, and whatever I want?” Now why can’t I fit my favorite outfit anymore? Why am I feeling so sluggish? Ouch! Did I really have to go there when we are getting so close to that special time of year? This is uncomfortable—yes, even to me as I write this message! But you and I know that we must take better– no, we must stop abusing, stop neglecting, and start investing in a more healthy lifestyle. It’s not enough to be spiritually saved. We must be physically saved by taking excellent care of the House of the Lord, His holy temple!
Focus Quote: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which is God’s” 1 Cor. 6:20 KJV).
