I hope your life will be filled with God’s love and blessing, and I want to share grace with you through the message titled with “Those who long for the temple of God.”
The temple of God is where God dwells, and it is a holy place where believers offer up sweet aroma of praises and thanks to God. The happiness of communicating with God in the sanctuary cannot be compared to any joy of this world. Hence, the psalmist confessed, “For a day in God’s court is better than a thousand outside.”
The Bible says that those who longed for the sanctuary of God gained favor from God and received blessing from Him. Then, what kind of heart and deeds do we have to possess and show to be one of those who long for the sanctuary of God?
First, we have to consider everything that belongs to God valuable.
In John chapter 2 is a scene where Jesus overturned the money changer’s tables in the temple, and drove away oxen and sheep and doves which the people were selling. Jesus showed His wrath against them to teach us that the temple of God is the most holy and pure place.
Therefore, we must consider the temple of God like our own house and always keep close watching on it to keep it clean. It goes the same for everything that belongs to the temple of God.
We must not be indifferent to anything that belongs to the temple of God because it is not yours or you do not take the responsibility. We must keep close watch on everything consecrated to God with consideration.
Second, we must count even our least God-given duty to be a valuable thing and fulfill it with all our hearts.
Those who long to abide in the temple of God will be joyful even though they are entrusted to be a doorkeeper of the sanctuary. For this reason, fulltime workers in my church are giving many thanks for working for God in His temple, even for cleaning the temple.
If we realize the love and grace of God and love Him, we will devotionally fulfill our God-given duties even with our life, even for the duty of a doorkeeper.
Lastly and thirdly, we must love our brothers and sisters in Christ as ourselves.
Believers who love the temple of God must love not only the church but also their brothers and sisters in Christ who are members of the church, the body of the Lord.
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” When we give our famished brothers in Christ something to eat, or when we dress them when they are naked, the Lord says we have done it to Him. God will rejoice and bless us when we watch over and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ as to our Lord.
God dwells is in His temple, and He always keeps His eyes on it. So I pray in the name of the Lord that you may always keep your hearts and your lips as well as your deeds holy.
