Preparing the Worship Center

 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?’  1 Co 6:19

 

For the past two weeks we have been back in church and it’s been awesome!  Just walking into the worship center and feeling the collective worship of God has been nourishment for the soul.  The praise and reverence of God in that place provides an environment of whole-hearted joy.  You can tell that the whole church was prepared to receive us, the greeters were masked but welcoming…the chairs had all been prayed over…the spaces provided the safety of social distancing.  What good would it have been if only the sanctuary had been prepared but the other parts of the church had not?  

 

As Paul wrote, our bodies (heart, soul and mind) are the full temple of the Spirit.  Relegating Him to one of the areas instead of the whole of our body is like me only being able to use one room in my house.  The Spirit is to move throughout our bodies making every part holy and righteous.  In Matthew 22:37 Jesus responded to which commandment is the greater of all.  Jesus claimed the greatest commandment was to ‘love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the whole-hearted devotion that gives the Spirit full access to move in and through us.  The Spirit is a gift given directly to us by God’s great grace. Col 3:2 echoes the charge to set our hearts and minds on the things of God.  Another word for ‘setting our hearts’ is ‘heartily’ which means with all sincerity.  ‘It speaks of our motivation, our focus…God asks us to consider our ways and set our hearts on Him as priority.  If your heart isn’t all in, you are destined to burn out, wear out, or freak out when you face certain obstacles or opposition.’  Take Courage, Jennifer Rothschild, p. 46.

 

When we set our mind on God, we allow the Spirit to show us what ‘room in our worship center’ has been marked off from Him.  Is it our time…our resources…our health…our devotion?  Where are we misusing or abusing our temple where the Spirit indwells?  Living heartily means more peace and less frustration…more focus and less distractions…more satisfaction and less discouragement.  The Holy Spirit is one of the most precious gifts we have been given but it is up to us how freely we allow Him to move throughout our ‘temple.’ We must be all in as Colossians 3:23 people!

"Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men." Col 3:23