GOD WITH US
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you.”
Exodus 25:8-9 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
As the children of Israel are camped in the wilderness, Moses goes up on the mountain to meet with God. God gave specific instructions that only Moses was to come up the mountain. Moses spends forty days on the mountain with God. During this time, he receives specific instructions about how to build a Tabernacle which is to be a place where God’s physical presence will dwell among the people. God is interested in being present with His people. This is a big contrast with the gods of most ancient religions. Most gods are viewed as distant and unreachable, Jehovah God desires to live with His creation. We see this from the very beginning of the Biblical narrative. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden and daily spent time with God. There was a unique relationship between the Creator and the creation. Sin broke the close relationship between God and man. But now God is in the process of restoring that relationship through a physical tabernacle that will serve as a place to come and meet with God. This tabernacle will later serve as the model for the Temple to be built in Jerusalem once the children of Israel move into the Promised Land. That Temple will become the identity of the nation of Israel. But God’s plan was not the always have a physical tabernacle or temple. God wanted to dwell in His creation. But He could not dwell inside of us because of our sin nature. We had to experience transformation through salvation. That is why Jesus came to earth—to pay the price for our sins so we could be transformed. This transformation allows us to become holy dwelling places for eternal God. As followers of Jesus Christ we are the Temple of God. God’s presence is with us. We carry with us the Spirit of God. This should help us view ourselves in a different light. We should reconsider where we go, what we do, and what we say. God is with us.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to take Your presence serious. Help me to be Your representative everywhere I go.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”