How awesome to think that as children of God through faith in Christ, we are His temple. As such, we need to keep it in good repair, secure in Him against the evils of this world. Our part is to be in constant prayer and in His Word.
Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair
Maintenance
Beavers are into maintenance. They carry sticks to their houses and dams to strengthen them against heavy rains that might cause damage. They rush to reinforce their dwellings with twigs, branches, mud and anything they can find to prevent more water from coming through. If you’ve ever watched beavers at work, whether in the wild or on a TV nature show, you know how attentive they are to the security of their dams as well as their houses.
Quick repair and constant attention to their homes is important to most animals. If a hole in the hillside becomes too small, a fox will dig it deeper. If a tree branch is too sharply angled, a bird will choose one that more easily accommodates a nest. Ants are constantly repairing, adding to or subtracting from their hills.
Buildings of any kind take maintenance, for both animals and humans. We try not to neglect our own dwellings so they will not lose beauty and worth.
There was a time when the Old Testament Israelites neglected the temple of God. They got so caught up in their own possessions that they put God last instead of first. The prophet Haggai heard from God. “The people procrastinate,” God told Haggai. “They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my temple, the temple of God.” He chastised the people: “Take a good, hard look at your life … you have spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it. You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up. You keep drinking and drinking and drinking, but you’re always thirsty … you’ve had great ambitions for yourselves, but nothing has come of it.” (Haggai 1:5-9 in part)
God went on to tell the people to rebuild his temple—pronto. He tells us to do the same. First Corinthians 3:16 says we believers of Jesus Christ are temples of the Holy Spirit and God’s Spirit lives in us. He does not want us to neglect the maintenance of our bodies, souls and spirits by allowing bad habits and worldly pursuits to get in the way of a close relationship with Him. In so doing, we dishonor God and can lose our beauty and worth as His children. Like the beaver, we need to diligently maintain our inner and outer homes, our temples, through intentional prayer, Bible reading and study, and obedience. Then we can live securely and at peace.
Lord, thank You for Your Spirit who lives within us. Help us to be worthy temples, holy and acceptable to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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