OUTCOME OF WORSHIP (2 Chronicles 2)

He placed the pillars in front  of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability). 2 Chronicles 2:16-17, MSG

My mother loved to tell me that the sign over the door to the chapel at her college read, "Enter to worship, leave prepared to serve."

The pillars at the front of Solomon's temple said, "Enter to worship, leave in security and stability."

Reading the description of Solomon's temple, trying to really imagine it, boggles my mind. The interior was gold-plated? Coated with precious stones? An entire building, 30'x90'? What was worship like for those few generations  of Israelites who worshipped there in all its glory, before kings stripped more and more gold for other purposes?

Even stripped, it was built of the finest cedar from Lebanon.  Fragrant, shining, amazing.

At the front of the Temple stood two pillars, seen upon entering and upon leaving. Solomon named them "Security" and "Stability."

If I asked 100 Christians what they expect to receive from worship, I would probably receive 100 different answers.  Somehow, though, I suspect few if any would mention security and stability.

I remind myself that this was a house of worship for an entire people, not a place for a local group of believers, such as the synagogue in the New Testament.  That political Israel and God's people Israel were one of the same.  Praying for our nation, security and stability would rank high on our list, especially after the recent horrors in Boston.

But although the Temple was for the entire nation, they worshipped as individuals. While I might not associate security and stability with worship, they are things I crave. In faith I reach for security in Christ, for stability that I can finish the books God has called me to write even when each project becomes a challenge to complete because my health is iffy.

Security and stability might not be the emotional highs I associate with worship, but they are what I need. And after worship, I should be more prepared than ever to depend on the God who is my sure foundation.


P.S. I am on bedrest, trying to get some pressure sores to heal. From one day to the next I am unsure of my availability to write, or my own strength.  So I will write as I can, and crave your prayers when I can't!

INVITING GOD IN (Exodus 25)

"Let them construct a Sanctuary for me so that I can live among them." 

Isn't this picture dramatic? There is the Tabernacle, with the 12 tribes encamped around it, and the pillar of fire rising from the center of the camp, a visible indication of God's presence among them.

But for that to happen, the Israelites had to start with an invitation: they had to construct the Sanctuary, the place set apart for God, for God to live among them. God came and remained among them, until Ezekiel's frightening vision of God's glory leaving the temple centuries later. 

Today the Holy Spirit lives inside of Christians. I could make this evangelistic: as Jesus says in Revelation, if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in. . . 

But today what strikes me is the need to get ready. I can't kick the Holy Spirit out. He's there to stay, the down payment of eternal life. 

But I can turn away from the life God calls me to live. If I'm not ready, God can't use me, His present-day Sanctuary, for the purposes of sacrifice and worship and drawing people near to God. 

In the words of the praise song, Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary.