2 Chronicles 1, 2, 3; John 12:1-19

The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 2 Chronicles 2:5-6

But who can build Him a house, since even heaven can’t contain Him…

God is so infinite that it is impossible to contain Him and Solomon understood that. He appreciated that the temple that He built was simply a gift for the greatest God, a place to make offerings and to give worship.

God is so limitless, that He doesn’t fit into a structure and yet He chooses to inhabit. He fills the heavens, and the earth, and His church, and my home, and my heart. I have become His temple.

In the Old Testament, Moses and the Israelites constructed the tabernacle, a place where God could dwell among the people when camped. It was a foretelling of the future of my relationship with Jesus. When Solomon built the temple it replaced the tent, again prophesying the permanent place that would be built by Jesus. Both structures were a place where sacrifices were made to appease God, to ask for forgiveness and where the people came to worship and give praise.

When Christ came to earth, He began to explain that the temple, as the people of Israel understood it, would no longer be necessary. It caused outrage among the priests because they did not recognize the truth of the Savior.

When Jesus gave His life as the ultimate sacrifice, when he died for my sins and rose again, the requirement for blood sacrifice was met forever. The price was paid for every sin. The picture of relationship painted by the temple came to fruition in Christ and the traditional ‘temple’ was destroyed.

When I believe that Christ was raised from the dead and I confess with my mouth that He is Lord, my body, becomes His temple. The hearts of the church, His children, become the Holy of Holies. Our offerings are no longer blood sacrifices, but living sacrifices.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3

Mary demonstrates what it means to offer myself as a living sacrifice. She gave her most treasured possession, most likely a part of her dowry, to honor Jesus. It was an expensive gift given freely and without reservation. It was offered in worship and praise, a preparation of what was to come.

As I build relationship with my Savior and daily ask Him to abide in my heart and in my home, I can’t help but question how I can be a living sacrifice. What can I give? What can offer to Him that is worthy of His praise? What will be a pleasing fragrance?

Yesappa, Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You for choosing to reside in me, for choosing to make my heart Your home, Your temple. Show me how to honor You. Help me be a living sacrifice with a fragrance like perfume. I give myself to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Blessings – Julie (writing from Sholavandan)

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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1 Samuel 3; Romans 3; Jeremiah 41; Luke 10

While Jesus and his followers were traveling, Jesus went into a town. A woman named Martha let Jesus stay at her house. Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him teach. But Martha was busy with all the work to be done. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NCV)

I’ve always been like Martha, responsible, given to hospitality, with an understanding that life happens and certain duties need to be done. But, I’ve always wanted to be more like Mary, one who sits at Jesus’ feet, focused only on Him, blinded to the ‘things’ of life.

When I went to ministry school, it was one of the hardest struggles I had to work through, especially since, as a student, I was part of the team that cleaned up after church and after conferences. More often than not, my responsible side took over and while many of the other students were still spending time with God, I was cleaning up urine off of the toilets in the bathrooms, seething with jealousy.

When I came to India as a long-term missionary, it was still a problem I struggled with. My (now) husband worshipped the Lord all the time, serving the people by bringing the Word to them, introducing them to Jesus or presenting them with a new teaching, all in Tamil, a foreign language I still don’t fully understand. Meanwhile, I was ‘stuck’ doing house work, administration for his ministry outreaches, and sitting for 3-4 hours on Sunday not being able to understand anything that was being said during the church service, not being able to experience corporate prayer or worship in a way that moved my heart.

As a mother, I am experiencing this issue yet again. When all I want to be doing is entering into His presence, praying, worshipping, reading the Word, there are so many duties to be done. And this time, there are two little lives that are depending on my actions for their survival, two little beings who don’t understand Mommy’s need to get away with the Lord, to drink Living Water to quench my thirst.

Obviously still in process with this whole Martha/Mary battle waging war within me, I have come to some realizations that have helped me relax in the midst of my progression:

1)      Sometimes listening to God is more about learning to recognize His voice calling me in the midst. More often than not, His voice is the still, small voice I am not quite sure I even heard (1 Kings 19:11-13). Samuel didn’t even understand that it was God speaking to him. Only when Eli explained who was calling him in the night, did he know how to respond. Only when he identified God’s voice was he able to listen to what God had to say to him.

So Samuel went and lay down in bed. The Lord came and stood there and called as he had before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel said, “Speak, Lord. I am your servant and I am listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 (NCV)

2)       In life there are certain things that have to be done – even the Bible says there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) The key is remembering that everything I do, whether it be feeding my family or washing mountains of laundry, even changing diapers and cleaning the bathroom, is able to be done as if I am doing it for the Lord Himself, doing those things as an act of worship to Him (Colossians 3:23-24; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

3)      There are only so many hours in a day, days in a year, years in a life. When it comes down to it, evaluating my priorities every day, accomplishing what really needs to be done and releasing the unrealistic pressures of trying to be a Wonder Woman, is crucial. Letting go of the ‘to do’ list allows me to be free from the burden and the worry. Seeking God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness enables me to achieve more in the day than I thought was even possible (Matthew 6:25-34).

I’ve come to the conclusion that really it boils down to my attitude. I can choose to be like Martha, a woman who has a chip on her shoulder, only seeing the overwhelming amount of work she ‘has’ to do all by herself; a woman who writes things on her list just so she can cross them off. I can choose to be like Mary, a woman who spends all of her time in front of the Lord, basking in His Glory and His Love, but accomplishing nothing of the tasks required for life, oblivious to everything and everyone else around her. Or, I can choose to be myself, a woman who has a full duty roster and yet seeks to offer my whole life as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord (Romans12:1-2), not looking to the right or to the left in comparison or in envy.

It is this new way of thinking that I strive for…even more than a cleaned kitchen or ironed clothes or bathed, fully dressed children.

Blessings – Julie (writing from Sholavandan, India)

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.