|
"He
will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17
As I have been reading the Bible in 90 days, it is evident
that some of the very conditions that existed prior to God
interceding in world activities exist today. One thing that
has been reinforced in my mind is that God hates violence
(Ezekiel 8:17). God’s people were moving far away from Him
and before they could turn back to God, the temple had to be
re-established to prepare the people for the return.
In Ezra 3:8, after coming out of captivity in Babylon, the
children of Israel began a work to repair the temple in
Jerusalem for worship. Worship may be considered a
spiritual readiness to enter God’s presence. This is noted
in chapter 6:21; the children of Israel left the ungodly
behavior of their captives in preparation to seek God.
Nehemiah confessed that his people had not kept God’s
commandments (1:7). Later in chapter 8, all the people who
had been in captivity were called together in order to hear
again the words of the Book of Moses. They were reminded
and prepared to re-enter God’s presence by hearing again
God’s Word. The temple building was to be resumed.
I believe the New Testament, through Jesus, prepares our
bodies to be temples – temples for the Holy Ghost. It
prepares us for that holy habitation. Matthew 25:34 says the
kingdom has been prepared for us; let us be ready to receive
it. Let Him find us doing the will of God. Luke 12:40
tells us to be ready; we know not when He will return.
Prayer Focus: Let us pray for a world that is readied for
the return of Jesus. That He might be received with the
love He is worthy of. Pray for a spiritual readiness that
will allow us to recognize Him and that we are fearless and
undeterred in following Him. We have all that we need in
God’s Word to do so. Let us pray this in Jesus’ name –
Amen.
Mona Riddick
|
