“The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary. Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;They set up their banners for signs…And now they break down its carved work, all at once, With axes and hammers. They have set fire to Your sanctuary; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.” Psalm 74:3b-4, 6-7
Tomb Raider’s Temple
It reminded me of the movie Tomb Raider. Lara Croft, on a grand adventure, seeks to find missing treasure in an old temple. As she enters the once palatial building, she discovers it to be abandoned, neglected, full of dust, spider webs, and vermin. The walls and carvings, once so beautiful, are crumbling and in disrepair. The air is stale, and wilderness has reclaimed the place meant for worship.
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV).
I closed my eyes and pictured my life as God’s temple. Does it look like a place of active worship? Or does it resemble Lara Croft’s neglected temple, full of cobwebs and in need of a good cleaning, repairs, and fresh air?
I pondered the verse, “The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.” What enemies of God have I let in to my life, that are causing damage to the work the Holy Spirit wants to do? Anger. Bitterness. Unforgiveness. Self-centerdness. Pride. These are some of the things that I have let reside in my temple for far too long, that don’t belong there. They are against God, His work He wants to do, and His worship in my life. These insidious things set up their own banners in the temple of my heart—where God alone is to be revered—that say, “Look at me! Look at me! Give me your attention and time, for in doing so you give methe place of honor in your life.”
In your own mind, picture your life as God’s temple. What does it look like? Are there corners that need to be swept out? Vermin that needs to be removed? Do you need the Holy Spirit to breathe fresh air into a stale place? Is there anything in the temple that doesn’t belong there? What enemy have you allowed in? May the Spirit of God come breathe fresh life into these humble temples, and blow away the cobwebs and dust in our hearts.
“What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (2 Corinthians 6:16).
“God, help us be mindful of all the ways in which WE are Your chosen dwelling place. May we never bring You shame, and always keep a ‘clean home’ for You. Amen.”
Indeed! We need a revival!
Search me O God and know my heart and cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
Amen….I’m am tackling years of clutter within the rooms of my home, it’s so interesting there are rooms which I have no problem swooping in and clearing out, and yet some of them every time I try I get exhausted even looking at them. These are the ones with memories and emotional ties, both wonderful and agonizingly painful. It is the same with the rooms in my heart. Some are easily cleared of the clutter, some I know without a doubt need to go and I am readily able to let them….others, this time seemingly good and again agonizingly painful, not so much. Father God, that you for your grace and mercy. Help us clean up those places in our hearts that need cleaning to make room for more of Your Son to fill them 🙂
My house is very cluttered with things from past. Clean my house oh Lord and let it shine with love with the spirit that dwells within. In JESUS name AMEN.