Pastor Caroline - In His Temple

 

In His Temple

 

I love this thought from Psalm 84 Verse 10 in the Good News Bible.

(10) One day spent in Your Temple is better than a thousand elsewhere.

 

Can you even imagine being in God’s Temple for one day? I should think if we were given that opportunity we would rather stay there than return. When we look at the full Psalm written by the author he says –in verse 2 - he longs to be there. There are days when we long to be with the Lord. This world can be so full of hurt and pain that our imaginations run toward heaven and we long to be standing at the gate of the house of the Lord, as the author says in the first part of verse 10.

(10) One day spent in your temple is better than a thousand anywhere else; I would rather stand at the gate of the house of the Lord than live in the homes of the wicked.

Now the author goes on in versus 11 and 12 and tells us this;

(11) The Lord is our protector and glorious king, blessing us with kindness and honor. He does not refuse any good thing to those who do what is right.

(12) Almighty God, how happy are those who trust in you!

 

Now take a moment and a deep breath and just imagine standing in front of our glorious King who protects us and blesses us with kindness and honour. Can you even fathom the amount of happiness that would rush through you as you stood there in His presence?

Just stay in that thought for a moment or two before reading on.

 

So if I were to leave here for 1000 days my expected date of return from today would be October 7, 2025. I would have spent 1000 days with the Lord. I cannot imagine that after that time or even as little as a week, or a day, would I want to return here. To be in the presence of the Lord and learn of His ways firsthand, to know the fullness of joy, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His teachings, well folks I can only imagine!!  To meet the disciples, to speak with the great preachers who have gone to glory, to chat with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and to listen to Joseph as he speaks of the early days of Jesus’ life, how exciting and thrilling. To find relatives I never knew, and to rejoice with those I knew here on earth; family and friends, well I cannot imagine leaving them after meeting them once again. To hear the choirs of angels and perhaps be invited to lend my voice would be more than exciting I am sure.

To spend Christmas and Easter in heaven with the very One we celebrate here on earth; never having met Him in person; and to be there for over two years with Him – well, who would want to return here I ask.

 

When we invite Jesus into our heart and we start to live our life for Him here on earth our life is never the same again. So just imagine spending 1000 days with Him and then being asked to return to the earth. I would then declare as the author did here in Psalm 84 verse 10:

One day spent in Your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else, I would rather stand at the gate of the house of my God than live in the homes of the wicked.

 

I am certain, beyond a doubt that I would want to stay in heaven waiting for my loved ones, family and friends to join me there; as opposed to coming back. We long for heaven as the author says and when we read the word of God we can understand his thoughts.

 

To spend 1000 days with our protector and glorious King would be such a pleasure. I am certain I would want to stay in His Temple, declaring in a loud voice; How I love Your Temple, Almighty God!!!, the very line the author opens with here in Psalm 84. Wow, I can only imagine 1000 days with Him and then life forever more! Glory hallelujah!!!