Be ye Holy...

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ... For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

1 Corinthians 3:16 & 17b

The scriptures that tell us about the tabernacle or the temple in Jerusalem always have inspired awe in me. A place of worship, sacrifices, the priests teaching. But it is the inner room that captivates me, the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies, depending on the translations. It must have been a place of drama, glorious and golden, where the Ark of the Covenant stood and God Himself dwelt, hidden in a cloud behind the wings of golden cherubim, until the death of His Son, when the veil was torn in two. It was nearly beyond human reach, only accessible by the high priest once a year, a place of overwhelming reverence.

Those of us raised in Christian homes have been told since childhood that we are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. This concept was never was so vivid and astounding to me as this past Sunday morning when my pastor stood there and told me that since I am the temple of God, the Holy of Holies is in me. That place that for so long was just out of human reach, is in me. The place of reverence and awe, where God in His mercy dwells - in me.

I would not drag a thing of beauty through the mud. Nor would I try to convince a dear friend to go to a questionable place with me. How much less do I want to defile that most Holy Place.

It was a sharp reminder to keep myself pure in mind and heart, take care of what I allow myself to read and watch, and how I want people to see me; a vessel of the Living God, dwelling in the Holy of Holies.