The author writes, “Do we see God as a presence comfortably within reach, as a
mysterious presence whose power is fearful, or as a presence we know through
our study of what is right and wrong?” The passage for the day is from I Kings
8: 10-13, but I read the whole chapter.
At the time Solomon is speaking in I Kings, God dwelt among
men in a thick cloud in the Holy of Holies, a place God allowed Solomon to
build. The text says that there was a
thick darkness or cloud, such that the priests had to leave; they could no
longer perform their services.
I can see that in my mind, the darkness and perhaps even a
stinging of their eyes, certainly a sense of the auspicious, and perhaps
fear. But today God dwells in us. I have long loved and been comforted by the
gospel of John, and these verses especially bless and challenge me this
morning:
John 14: 15-17 If you
love me, you will obey what I command.
And I will ask the Father and he
will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of
truth. The world cannot accept him because
it neither sees him nor know him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you.
John 14: 25-26 All this I have spoken while still with
you. But the Counselor , the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will
remind you of everything I have said to you.
How blessed we are to have the indwelling Spirit of God to
teach us, to help us recognize right from wrong, ever present. Those
God-believers of Solomon’s time must have felt so alone, dependent on the
priest to take care of their sins. We
can do business with God whenever we want wherever we are.
I think of the times that I have felt alone, and today I can
be tough on myself – foolish you, you were never really alone. God never left you! But I do admit to being weak, and in some
tough circumstances forgetting that I am never alone. The Comforter is ever with me to teach me, to
bring to my mind what I need for the moment.
I think about how easy it is for me to be critical of
Christian worriers; after all, they have God the Holy Spirit too, God who loves
them…and worry never accomplished anything good. But honesty compels me to admit, that there
are times that I too have fallen into that trap, building a darkness around me
that causes me to forget truth: My God will never leave me nor forsake me. He is always comfortably within reach.
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