Friday, February 5, 2010

Fit for God's presence

1 Kings 6:7
And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

This was a magnificent feat of skill and precision. Such accuracy must have been the combination of both human gifting & discipline and divine intervention & provision. This display of perfection and peace was fitting for the Temple of God.
And as this Temple was a symbol and type of future temples to come, so the church (Eph. 2:20-22), our bodies (1 Cor. 3:16) and the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22) are also fit for such perfection and peace.
In His church should be no noise of discord or violence, contention or division. Each stone, each member must come ready to conform to God's will and plan. We must sacrifice our own agenda and conform as He sees fit (1 Cor. 3:1-17).
As living stones in His temple (1 Peter 2:5), our bodies should be proclamations of peace, stillness and constant progress as we are being built together. We should not bring the rough edges of sin and misshapen motives into God's presence. We should not call attention to ourselves, to our process, distracting from the mystery and glory that is sanctification. We must be diligent to chisel off sin, to prepare ourselves for His presence so we are fit for worship and sacrifice both in this life and eternity. For what stone that has not been chiseled and prepared in this life will be fit for Heaven?
Again, this is a process of both human skill & diligence and Divine intervention & provision.
Have I been diligent to chisel off the sin in my life? Have I offered myself before God to be hewed and shaped to conform to His likeness? Have I submitted to the master's chisel or have I hardened my heart and proven to be a stone He cannot use? Do I have such reverence for His Sacred Temple that diligently strive for peace, unity and holiness with other living stones as I come into His presence? Is my mind set on heaven and preparing for the day when I might be fit to be part of His eternal Temple?

Lord - chisel me now and make me fit for Your presence. Amen

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