King David saw that God had given him a large "house of Cedar" and David realized he hadn't even given God a house this good. He started to make plans to build one, but God told him, 'Wait.'
God didn't seem too eager to be removed from a movable tent. It's almost like God sees that this world is so fleeting and He doesn't want to be tied down when things change. God seemed content to live in a tabernacle.
Fast forward a millennia, and God came down and "tabernacled" among us (John 1:14), in a moving human named Jesus. It was like a house of God walking around, not tied down. And then when Jesus died and later ascended he sent the Holy Spirit down to live in us. And now we are sort of like little moving tabernacles in which God inhabits.
God isn't against having a permanent home. He gave permission to David's son, Solomon to build him a house. It's like God wanted to make sure his house was built on principles of his kingdom. He said David's reign was too full of violence. but even then, Solomon's reign went downhill. But in Revelations, in God's final kingdom, God's throne seems pretty permanent.
But until then, how would we live differently if we saw ourselves as a little walking tabernacle of God?
I like to think how my wife loves a tidy house. I can make it tidy as a way of welcoming her in, or making her happy when she's in. What would it look like to make my life pleasant to live in? To un-clutter it. To organize it. To make it a place of joy and peace.
Would I want to trim certain things out of my life? It's hard to picture a lot of TV shows filling it up. It's hard picturing drunken nights filling it very often. Or much gossip I have to keep track of, or guilt for recurring sins.
Raw Spoon, December 15, 2022
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