Image via WikipediaI was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Psalm 122:1
King James Version (KJV)
There's a wall hanging that I pass every day that has this Bible verse. It hangs on the wall of the stairway in our home, almost directly across from my writing office. If I looked, it would be one of the first things I would see as I exit my office.
For some reason this hanging particularly caught my eye the other day. I'm not sure why I stopped to looked at it and ponder the words. I suppose partly it was because the quote was from Psalms and Psalms has been the focus of this blog. That's why I chose psalmsunday as the web address for this blog.
The thing that came to my mind was that I appreciate my home. I thank God for this place that he has given me, this shelter and refuge. My wife and I have a peaceful, protective home and I thank God for that.
We often think of the building that we call church as God's house. I once saw a former church that had become a restaurant. On one occasion I attended a musical production at a theater that had formerly been a church. Does God's house ever stop being God's house?
My wife and I attend church regularly, but I am not always glad. Sometimes there are other things that I'd rather be doing. But what if I were no longer permitted to attend my church for health reasons or even political oppression. I would not be happy about that and I hope this would never happen.
I am happy in our home and thank God that we have this wonderful place to live. We have been blessed. God is always welcome in our home and I want to think of this as God's house just as much as I do our church.
Then again, they are only buildings.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own...
1 Corinthians 6:19
New International Version (NIV)
Indeed, we are not our own. And what a glorious release of tension.
ReplyDeleteThe following comment was sent to me by email:
ReplyDeleteHello! This is a Blogger A to Z Challenge 2012 success story! I just signed up for this year's challenge and did as the host blog suggested, to visit some of the host blog's pages. From your page I found your link to A Few Words and immediately loved it, especially yesterday's post about the House of the Lord. I was just thinking along the lines you wrote about yesterday, how wonderful it is to be able to go to church! I am a member of a local church that I love deeply, but recently my work schedule has changed and it's only when I specifically request a Sunday off that I am able to go. Yesterday was one such day and on the way home I was thinking about how much I enjoyed the experience. I wanted to comment on your post but for some reason I kept getting stuck in a loop - the comment box would flash by and then I'd be stuck on a blank page, waiting for google.com forever. So I took desperate measures and tried your email in the hope of telling you how much I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing. I'm now a follower and looking forward to reading more!
Elaine
A Heart 4 Heaven