Consecrate Your Temple

Consecration is a theme I have been meditating upon lately.  Webster's 1828 dictionary defines it this way:  "The act or ceremony of separating from a common to a sacred use, or of devoting and dedicating a person or thing to the service and worship of God, by certain rites or solemnities.  Consecration does not make a person or thing really holy, but declares it to be sacred, that is, devoted to God or to divine service; as the consecration of the priests among the Israelites; the consecration of the vessels used in the temple."  The priests, articles of the temple, and even the temple itself were all consecrated for the worship and service of God.  But just because something has been consecrated to God does not mean it was always used for its intended purpose.

When we think of the temple, it's likely we do so with a sense of awe and reverence.  Think of that magnificent temple Solomon built with the doors covered in gold, awesome brass pillars, the solid gold lampstand and the altar of incense.  Imagine you are a priest, walking through the doors into the holy place, lifting your eyes to see the massive cherubim, smelling the fragrance of the incense, and before you stands the curtain separating the Holy of Holies where the Spirit of God dwells above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  And now imagine that it's been a really slow day because of rainy weather and quite some time has passed since any have visited the temple.  A bit bored, you and other priests decide close the doors of the temple and set up a indoor soccer game using the table of showbread and altar of incense as one goal, and the curtain of the Holy of Holies for the other goal!  Pretty ridiculous, right?  It seems an utterly ludicrous suggestion.  It would be plain wrong to degrade a holy, consecrated place to the level of a field of sport.

The temple was consecrated to God, yet throughout scripture we read of many occasions when it was profaned, neglected, and polluted.  While the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, Eli's wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas had sex with women who assembled there (1 Samuel 2:22).  Eli allowed the lamp to burn out instead of keeping it lit perpetually.  The sons of Athaliah broke up the temple and dedicated God's things to Baal (2 Chron. 24:7), a false god.  Josiah was a good king who desired to fix the leaks and breaches of God's house.  When they began to repair the temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law which had been lost (2 Kings 22:8).  Imagine losing God's Word in the temple!  The wicked king Ahaz polluted the temple, barred the doors, and set up altars to idols throughout the city (2 Chron. 28:24).  It took eight days for the Levites to carry all the rubbish that was left in the holy place to the brook Kidron (2 Chron. 29:17).  And what of Eliashib the priest in the days of Nehemiah, who allowed Tobiah, the avowed enemy of God and Israel, to live in a room inside the temple (Neh. 13:4-7)?  Nehemiah was furious and threw out all Tobiah's stuff.  When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He made a whip of cords and overturned the tables of the money changers, driving them and their wares outside of the temple courts (John 2:13-16).  Instead of regarding God's house as a house of prayer, they made it a den of thieves.

For those who reverence and love God, it is difficult to grasp how the temple of God consecrated for worship would be misused, polluted, and profaned.  As human beings, it is easier for us to reverence a physical place as holy ground rather than temples not made with hands.  There is the very real potential that the temple of the Holy Spirit can be profaned even in our day.  Do you know that born again Christians are now the temple of the Holy Spirit, having become His consecrated dwelling place?  Being holy does not mean that we need to walk in slow motion, call people "my son," or adopt mechanical hand motions:  it means that we have been consecrated for use by God, having been employed in his service.  We are to separate ourselves from sin and walk in righteousness.  The worship and service of God is our sole purpose in all we think, say, and do.  It is not our primary purpose:  it is our only purpose.  Through the Gospel and faith in Jesus Christ we have chosen to be purchased as voluntary slaves with Christ's blood.  We ought to be about God's business, for a servant is not above his Master.

Does this mean we can't play soccer?  No.  Whatever we do, we should do it heartily as unto the LORD.  But we ought to recognise we have been bought with a price and our life is not to be lived for ourselves any more.  No game, activity, or earthly thing may be allowed to compete with our allegiance and affections towards God.  What we love the most is evident by how we spend our time - or how we wish we could spend our time.  God has freely given us everything to enjoy, and we ought to glorify God in all we do.  Instead of living to please the dictates of ourselves, we are to walk in obedience to God.  We are to put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and put on the new man.  We ought to faithfully read the word instead of neglecting it.  We ought to keep the doors of our heart open to Christ instead of barring them.  We need to keep our light burning bright like a city on a hill that cannot be hid.  We must ruthlessly destroy any idols that exist in our lives and pursue the worship of God alone.  All sin is to be put off and no good deed for God left undone.  Paul sums it up well in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

When God looks at you, He is not focused on the image you see in the mirror:  He looks upon your heart.  In modern vernacular, the concept of "my body is a temple" is limited to the physical.  Your muscles or lack thereof is of little concern to Him.  God is not in awe of ornate buildings constructed for the purpose of worship, nor is He impressed with our physical bodies.  Isaiah 66:1-2 reads, "Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? ² For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist," says the LORD. "But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."  May we humble ourselves before the LORD, being consecrated for His use not in word only, but in deed and truth.  Let us wash our hands and cleanse our hearts from sin so we will experience the communion and fellowship God freely offers by His grace.  The curtain has been torn.  Put away the soccer ball and bow before your Maker, man!  There's nothing boring about that!