Lately, I have been pondering how Bible verses show up in our conversations, almost without us being aware. There are phrases that I hear and then later, I’m reading a blog or a Bible verse and there it is. It surprises me almost every time, and it should not.
One such phrase that I hear frequently is “My (or your) body is a temple.” It’s usually in reference to how people eat or exercise. For example: I don’t eat dessert. My body is a temple. In the past few weeks, I have heard about the temple of God in reference to the actual temple (or church) and our body being the temple of God.
I completely understand the reference to the house of God (church/temple/mosque- the place you worship) being the “temple of God”. I am taking time from my life and schedule and going to a holy place to worship with others and to spend that hour with God. There are days when I don’t want to go, I am not in the mood- that doesn’t matter. I go because my relationship with my God is important to me. I can always find God while I’m sitting in a pew.
The more difficult part that I ponder is that inside me is also a “temple of God”. The Holy Spirit (the spirit of God) lives inside me. What??? I am also housing God? Impossible! Nope- completely possible. What does that even mean?
To me, it means that God is always with me and that by taking care of His creation (me) I am taking care of God. I should eat right, exercise, pay attention to what I read and watch, pray, and take care in my relationships. Whew, that’s a lot to pay attention to.
Like everyone, I get busy, and I forget that I am housing a precious spirit inside me. It’s difficult to pay attention to everything all at once. I want to eat right, exercise, go to bed on time. That doesn’t always happen. I do take time each day to pause, reflect, meditate, pray, and be with God. Sometimes that’s all I can do. That’s enough.
To wrap it up in a bow for you, we have the spirit of God inside us. He is always with us. By taking care of ourselves, we are also taking care of God’s creation. We are also nurturing the relationship between our physical and spiritual selves. I gave you some examples from my life, what are you doing to take care of your temple of God?
