The House of God
I grew up thinking that the church building was “the house of God”. In fact, I’m sure that just about everyone told me that. I think the point was not to run and play or destroy the church. The small church I grew up in taught me about Jesus as well as the characters of the Old Testament. I grew up going to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night Bible Study. I enjoyed the singing, sometimes I enjoyed the preaching and I could recite some of the prayers because they prayed the same thing over and over. When my faith became my own, I started looking closer at the things I had been taught from scripture. I also looked carefully at the practices of my home church. They were not teaching from “left field” the scripture, but they were super literal on some teachings and a bit relaxed on other teachings.
As I grew older, I continued to grow in my love for the Lord and I really like going to church to connect with my spiritual family – my “church family”. We gather to worship God together. We gather to study His Word together. We gather to give, love and serve one another. We also gather to serve people we don’t yet know in the name of the Lord. I read this one verse this morning and realized that the house of God is a bit different in my mind now than it once was. Check this out….
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1 NLT)
I see a church build a big building to serve as the auditorium for gatherings. We used to call that the “sanctuary” which really mean you couldn’t run and play there. I’m part of Southern Hills Chrisitan Church, the church at City Station. We actually run and play in the auditorium because it doubles as gymnasium during the week. The facility is open to the community because the church really isn’t God’s house. God’s house is my heart and the heart of all of those who welcome Him in. The Lord is actually with me wherever I go, because He dwells in my heart. Paul taught this concept to the church at Corinth. He was speaking to them about how they treat their bodies and to run from sexual sin because God lives in us. Check this out….
18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT)
I look at the house of God quite different now. I should be way more reverent and respectful to my body as well as my heart. I should protect what happens in me and what activities I participate in. My heart is the house of God. My body is the house of God. He lives here and that is a different than what I was taught growing up. I enjoy opening the Word of God in my home and allowing Him to direct my thoughts, attitudes and actions first thing in the morning. His Presence in me as changed my perspective on everyone and everything.
Pressing On!
Dwayne