The Temple:
Could you imagine
if you had a friend or a family member who fell on hard times, and you care a
great deal about this person? You offer
to help in any way that you can; let’s say it’s your buddy or a friend. He comes to you with an idea. He says, “I don’t want you to give me any
money, but it would really help me if you could buy my work truck from
me.” You spend some time thinking it
over and making sure that you will be able to handle the financial burden;
finally, you conclude that you will help this friend. You go to him, buy the truck, sign the
paperwork, and ask for the keys; but he then asks if he can borrow the truck
for a while. After all, this is his work
truck and he is having a hard time keeping the bills paid, so you say, “Sure,
you can use the truck.” You lay out a
few ground rules for when and how often he can use it,
how he will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep, and you then entrust
him with the vehicle. At first, he is
just so grateful! You took this
financial burden off of his shoulders, and then allowed him to keep using the
truck to get back and forth to work; to him, you are the greatest person in the
world. Time goes by, and you begin to
see the truck less and less. You become
concerned, so you call him up to check on your vehicle, but you can’t reach
him. You wait a day or two and then you
try contacting him again, but still no answer.
Now you are becoming a little annoyed, and rightly so! You decide it is time to go over to his house
and find out what has happened. When you
arrive, you find the truck out in the yard with some damage to it, and
obviously not being cared for as you had previously agreed. You walk up and knock on the door of the
house hoping that your friend has some sort of reasonable explanation as to why
your property has not been well cared for.
He answers the door and completely ignores the condition of the truck
forcing you to bring it up. You explain
to him that you are not pleased with the situation, and that you would like to
hear why he had not done as he had agreed with the truck. He becomes very irritated by the idea that
you would try to tell him what he can or cannot do with that truck. He begins to tell you that you have no right
to dictate to him how to take care of that truck, and just goes on and on about
how overbearing and unreasonable you are.
He accuses you of placing him in a tough position. Can you imagine how you would feel in that
situation? Can you not just feel
yourself becoming quite aggravated with your friend’s behavior and lack of
appreciation and concern about what belongs to you?
Now, for a
moment, think how Christ must feel when He considers the price our redemption,
and has to deal with our unreasonable, rebellious actions on a daily
basis. We “are bought with a price” and
have an obligation to live according the Word of God! When we accepted Christ as Saviour we made a
decision to accept Him and all that comes with Him. We now have no choice but to please Him or
suffer the consequences of His chastisement.
Consider Him, and examine your behavior from His perspective. Do you think Christ is pleased by your
treatment of His property?
I Corinthians 6:18-20:
18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
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