by Marilyn Ehle
“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8
Years ago when I wanted to get away from the demands of life and people, I would visit a chapel with pews darkened from age and stained glass windows allowing the sun to shine onto my fellow worshipers with what seemed like the light of heaven. For just an hour or so, the presence of God seemed especially close.
God has always wanted a relationship with his people. He sought out Adam and Eve in the quietness of a garden. He called out to wandering Cain. He “remembered” Noah. He commissioned Abram. He accepted Jacob’s stone pile as a “house of God.” He gave detailed instructions for a transportable place of worship, and then blessed the efforts of those who labored on the more permanent temple. Only the best was to be used for this place of worship: gold, silver, bronze metals; purple, crimson, blue yarns; cedar, juniper and sandalwood trees.
The tent of worship disappeared in wanderings and war. Rocky fragments are all that remain of the once grand temple. God has chosen new places for worship; He has chosen to live within His children. “Don’t you know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit?” asks the Apostle Paul.
From earliest times people carefully prepared the places where they worshiped God—whether rocks by a river, a tent carried on poles or a magnificent temple. Do I take equal care in preparing myself each day to meet God? Do I keep silent long enough to anticipate and enjoy His presence? Am I clothed in humility before I present myself to Him?
Musician Jessy Dixon reminds us:
Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true;
with thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.
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