Lord, prepare me.

Last week I read this quote by A. W. Tozer that said Christians don’t tell lies, we just go to church and sing them. Ouch. convicting, right?

So I was thinking about this song I’ve been listening to a lot….

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCQgs3xY5EQ]

and I was thinking about this simple chorus we all know.

I was thinking about in Exodus, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the tabernacle, and I started thinking about everything surrounding that.. how everything had strict restrictions and specifications, how everything had to be consecrated and holy and all of this stuff.

Remember Uzzah, in 1 Chronicles 13? The guy is taking the ark out of his dad’s house at the request of David. They are all celebrating the ark – the manifestation of the presence of God among his people – and then an oxen kind of stumbles and so Uzzah sticks his hand out to steady the ark and you know what God does? God strikes him down, dead. Because you know what you don’t do? You don’t touch the Ark of the Covenant, even if you’re just trying to steady it.

God is that serious about it. He didn’t give Uzzah a wrist slap and a “shame on you” and send him on his way with a few boils or curses. He strikes the man dead.

This is the same God who demands all of these rules and requirements and restrictions for the temple. And then there’s the whole holy of holies thing, that thing held sacred by the curtain that ripped when Jesus died. The place that only the high priest could go, and even then only once a year. The heart of the temple, really. The manifestation of the presence of God among his people.

So keeping all of this in mind, I have to then think about what Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

Think about that grace.
God used to manifest himself in places and things, and these things had to be pure and consecrated and held to a ridiculously high standard and there was no room for error or drifting from the rules, even if you were just steadying the ark.

Now the Holy Spirit of God dwells in me.

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.

Those words look different to me now that I’ve spent some time thinking about what a sanctuary is and the history of God’s sanctuaries and who I am and the history of me.

I read the story of Uzzah to Rachel this morning, and she pointed out how we never really talk about that side of God, even though we know that he is the same today as he was then. To which I replied that while God has not changed, the game has. We are covered by the atoning blood of Christ. Jesus came and flipped the world upside down, wrote the continuing story, invited us in, and for the first time since the Garden, God walked with his people on the planet he created for them. When God shows up, things change.

God is the same and he still cannot be with sin or impurity. But now I have a Messiah that sanctified me and redeemed me and has enabled me to be pure, holy, tried and true. Even though we all know that I am not any of these things.

Lord, prepare me.

and some vain updates for my uninteresting life.

Gohar & I went and got coffee; wandered around; got dinner; wandered some more. This man named Leon asked us to watch his dog when he went in Starbucks, and then he talked to us for a long time. He was interesting; a 68-year-old surfer who invents things and was in the circus for 3 years when he was a teenager!

Me and Gohar in front of Paper Source {the best store ever, right?} from her phone. I LOVE this picture.
Also, I purchased coffee for Gohar which means I have started tackling another part of my 20-11’s list.

In my attempt to remain optimistic, I’ve decided to just do what I want to do without feeling guilty or worrying about it. So on Sunday after church, I drove to Temecula and spent time with my dear friend Erlinda. And you know what else? I bought her coffee, so that’s two down, nine to go. Also. I could not write about this trip without pointing out one of the most memorable moments of it.

One of my 20-11’s is to go out of my way to show 11 people that I love them. Here is out of my way #1. Hannah, my roommate, is trying to eat healthy.. more veggies and fruits. So yesterday I took this giant bag of change, went to Fresh & Easy and bought a bunch of fruits and veggies {pictured here are the veggies}. I cut up the veggies and put them in little ziplock baggies, and then made a fruit salad. It was messy, time consuming, and definitely worth it.