Tuesday, August 9, 2011

"The Most Holy Place"



    Are there places in the world more holy than others?  The answer is yes and no.
    First, every devoted believer remembers and regards venues where the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ has been known, appreciated and loved in special ways.  Our great forefather Abraham built an altar in Bethel after meeting God, and to which he returned (Genesis 12:8; 13:3).  We likely have similar places in our lives, and in the sense of our apprehension and experience of God, we may regard them as "an altar most holy" (Exodus 40:10).
    In the absolute sense, however, no place in either heaven and earth is more holy than any other.  Indeed, holiness graces anywhere God is, and He is everywhere.  "Do not I fill heaven and earth?... The whole earth is full of His glory" (Jeremiah 23:24; Isaiah 6:3).  Thus, anywhere and everywhere bears the possibility of becoming a holy place in our hearts, just as it is in truth and reality.
     "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:20-24).
     Somewhere just now a trusting believer kneels in a squalid hovel of poverty and apparent destitution.  A holy place, a most holy place, because a Heart and a heart are meeting in the loving devotion made possible and actual through the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in both parties.  At the same time, another worshipper bows in a palace of wealth, splendor and opulence, seeking the face of the God in whom he or she trusts rather than riches.  Another holy place, a most holy place, of love bestowed and love received.  Doubtless multitudes of others throughout the world are sanctifying their current locale as their own most holy place by turning their hearts Heavenward in love, faith and devotion.
     Finally, wherever you and I may be in this moment of grace, the possibility of the fact of holiness can become the realized blessing of holiness.  The God who fills heaven and earth beckons us to open our eyes to see, and our hearts to believe in the holy place, the most holy place, of right here and right now.
"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
(Psalm 29:2)

No comments: