The last couple of Sundays I’ve finally been able to make it to church. I always treasure these free Sunday mornings. Being in a space that is hungry for God and eagerly welcomes His presence refreshes my heart like nothing else. I am so grateful for the people who live out their faith so purely making the church what it was meant to be. I know not everyone’s experience of “church” is so life-giving, but God’s presence always is.
Yesterday before the sermon I read David’s Psalm,
“One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.”
-Psalm 27:4
As I meditated on David’s beautiful desire to be in God’s presence I couldn’t help but wonder, what he would have thought if someone had told him that one day we, our bodies, would be called the Temple of God. His longing to be in God’s presence would ultimately be satisfied by God’s presence in us. His desire for God would only be matched by God’s desire for us. 1st Corinthians says,
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you,”
1 Corinthians 6:19
Some might be tempted to think, ‘Who needs the church if I have God within me?’. But again in Corinthians, the author Paul lays out that we are God’s temple not only individually, but also collectively.
“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God lives in you? ”
1 Corinthians 3:16
Therefore, we are the building blocks of His kingdom, alive to live and reflect His holiness, beauty, and goodness, and Christ is our cornerstone.
“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God…
…you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:4-5, 9
During our time of worship at church, we sang that good old 1995 Matt Redman song, “Better is One Day”. The lyrics are inspired by Psalm 27. They go as follows,
“One thing I ask, and I would seek, to see Your beauty,
To find You in the place Your glory dwells
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere”
My heart was full as I sang the words surrounded by my brothers and sisters, an imperfect people bearing the Spirit of a perfect God. I gazed on His beauty displayed in their lives, all while looking forward to the day when we will truly be able to gaze on Him, face to face in a perfect and whole kingdom; a place where His presence is the most obvious and tangible thing. But even now it is true, that one day in His presence is better than a thousand elsewhere.
And as our hearts long for Him the way He ever-longs for us, may we display to the world the wonder of His love and the truth of who He is.
Soul Food 