ROOTED - Friday, January 31, 2025

1 Corinthians 6:19
 
Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit

 

Reflection: Sanctuary, Part 2
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro

Yes, we are the sanctuary and temple of God. I think of the privilege to be considered a worthy place for God to live. Once more, in the Old Testament God “lived” in the Holy of Holies. Obviously, God is omnipresent (He is everywhere). But in a strictly theological sense, the central presence of God was contained in the Holy of Holies. At first this was in the Tabernacle that traveled with the Children of Israel in the wilderness. But then the Temple was built and, like in the Tabernacle, there was the Holy of Holies. There were two rooms: the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.  The Holy Place was the one outside of the more interior Holy of Holies. Any priest could go into the Holy Place, but only the High Priest could enter the actual place where God’s presence was… and he could only do that one time a year.
That history lesson is important because it draws a stark contrast to how God deals with his people today. We are the place where God dwells. And unlike in the Old Testament, anyone can have a close relationship with God. We are the Temple. I said this so often to my children that I am sure they grew weary of it: You are the Temple of God and so you must not use your body for ungodly purposes. Because we are the Temple of God there are behaviors that we should avoid. We should be pure and not treat our bodies badly. We should honor God with our bodies for our body is the place where God dwells. Treat it, therefore, as a holy thing. Use your body for godly purposes and honor God with it!

Prayer
Lord, thank you for dwelling in us. May we keep our bodies pure and clean, as vessels worthy of your use!