Rebuilding the Temple
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come,
even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt." "then the word of
the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves
to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" (Haggai
1:2-4) NASB95
The Israelites had been in exile throughout Babylon, but those who wanted to
were allowed to come back to Jerusalem where they found the city, including
the temple in shambles. When they first got back, they started working on
the temple, but then they left it alone while they first took care of
themselves.
There are some people who become Christians and do all that Christians
should do, but then they let other things get in the way. They start
building their own houses of careers and leisure pursuits. These things are
not bad, but they leave the building of the temple of their spiritual lives
unfinished.
If you belong to Jesus Christ, He lives in you and you are a temple. If you
truly belong to Jesus Christ, He is your firm foundation on which to build.
He even tells us how to build our temple: Matthew 7:24-25 (NRSV) "Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man
who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds
blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on rock."
So Jesus Christ is the Rock and we build our temple through obedience to
Him. What are the building blocks we are to use? Peter tells us: 2 Peter
1:5-8 (NASB95): "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in
your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance,
and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly
kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are
yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in
the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
At times in our lives, some of the building blocks might not be as strong as
they once were, and some may not have been used too much. Do any of us need
to rebuild part or all of our temples?
By Dean W. Masters
Unedited redistribution approved.