Live God Adventures

I’ve been reading through 1 Kings lately and today I had a thought. Typically, whenever I read a very historical very detailed part of scripture, I skip over it. Just being honest… So, the details of the temple and stones and wood and structures, I read the first line of the section then move on to the next. Today, as I did that, I had a different thought.

Prior to this building, the people were guided by the Holy Spirit with a cloud during the day and a flame at night (Exodus 13:21). The people had to wait, listen, and watch for Him to move, speak, or direct. We see the mindset of the people begin to change as they desired a king “like everyone else” (1 Samuel 8) and then as the king desired to create a temple “like everyone else”. God allowed these things, the king, and the temple, but was it His original plan or something that humans wanted, and He chose to use?

Bring this around to Jesus, 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” This takes us back to watching, waiting, and listening, but this time, each of us get to have a relationship with Jesus. We don’t have to wait on a priest or sacrifice animals. We can come before the throne of God and speak to Him.

Another thought is, while God led by fire and a cloud, they had to be diligently watching. Once God was “confined” to a building (the temple) they could make it nice and pretty, go in when needed then forget Him the rest of the time, or not be “bothered” by the routine.

We must be mindful that our walk with the Lord doesn’t go the same way.

Have we confined Him to a specific time of day? To a check box on our to do list? Or a seemingly great “prayer closet”, but that’s the only time He gets and the only time of day we speak or listen to Him? None of these things are bad, what becomes dangerous is when we ask God to just stay in those places and we don’t talk to Him throughout our days.

“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We are the temple of the Lord. There are so many applications for that statement. But it starts with talking with Him daily – moment by moment.

So, my question today is, have we created a separate temple for the Lord? One that is like a building or temple? One that we can decorate and visit when needed? Or do we allow Him to walk and talk with us throughout the day, do we seek Him moment by moment? Are we seeking Him and His will or are we doing our own thing (asking for kings and temples) when God has other, better plans for our lives?