That all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandment, as at this day.     1 Kings 8:60-61 NKJV

Our Scripture passage today is from the prayer Solomon prayed when he dedicated the temple to the Lord. Solomon had begun his prayer as we all should with thanking God for his goodness and faithfulness. He went on to pray for many things such as forgiveness, support in times of trouble, victory in battle, and many other provisions and you can read his prayer in 1 Kings 8:53-61.

Then they held a great feast and offered sacrifices to the Lord. Now this temple would be destroyed in 586 B. C. but that’s not what I want to discuss today. Today I want to talk about the temple that is within us.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

I don’t know about you, but this Scripture passage sometimes makes me cringe. I have not always treated my body like a temple.

I would never think about going into our church and trashing it by throwing garbage all around and defacing walls. But I have come to realize that I have trashed my body numerous times.

There are a number of ways we can trash our bodies. We trash our bodies when we are sexually immoral. We trash our bodies when we use drugs. Alcohol can do damage to the body. And yes, too much food or the wrong types of food can also trash the body.

The temple that Solomon built was a centrally located place of worship for the Israelites. They could come to Jerusalem for Passover and the other feasts. Solomon took great care and great expense in building the temple and the dedication was quite a celebration. God had blessed Solomon with the wisdom he had asked for but he had given him great wealth in addition to the wisdom. So, money was no object, and Solomon spared no expense in the building or the dedication ceremony.

When we dedicate our temple to the Lord, it should be a big deal. We may not have a lot of money, but we should take it very seriously. We should pray to God to help us to honor the temple and regard it as holy.

The temple in that day was representative of God’s dwelling place. It was the house of the Lord. When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us. The dwelling place of the Holy Spirit needs to be regarded as holy.

I have spent years of my life not regarding my temple as holy. I have tried to correct that. I still struggle when it comes to food consumption and sugary drinks. God showed me very clearly that alcohol was something I should stop indulging in back in 2010 and giving it up has not been a problem. Giving up sugary treats, however, is sometimes a challenge.

I have found though that when I pray for God’s help with that it’s much easier.

Have you dedicated the temple? If so, are you regarding it as holy? Are you careful about what goes into it? This also includes what we listen to and what we watch.

Solomon gave sacrifices to God when he dedicated the temple. Keeping our temples clean and holy will also require sacrifice. If we dedicate our temple and ask God to help us, He will. Trust in Him and keep your temple holy.

Have a great day!