November 1 – Hebrews 9:6-10. The Tabernacle – Our Heart.

November 1 – Hebrews 9:6-10. The Tabernacle – Our Heart.

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

Do you have friends that seem to spend an inordinate amount of time rearranging things around them until they can be satisfied with their space?  Or maybe you are one of those people who isn’t comfortable until everything around you is set up in a certain manner.  It’s actually embarrassing when you do it in someone else’s home, isn’t it!

Precise arrangement in God’s house was imperative.  God wanted things to be placed and handled, designed and created in a specific manner to represent His home on earth.  It was this precise handling of God’s plan that helped His people become aware of the care that He had put into the covenant relationship.  In responding to it with such care, the people honored God’s plan and that which He asked them to do.

Are you more careful of the things you say and do when you are in a church than when you are anywhere else?  While I laughingly tell my friends that we should act the same way we do in a church as we do in the rest of our lives, the reality is that when the curtain in the temple was ripped apart at Christ’s crucifixion, God was no longer to be found only in the temple … or any of our churches.  He is found in our hearts.  If we go to church … offering our sacrifices … and then live like heathens the rest of the time with no thought given to God being present within us … these are the offerings that God rejects.  They are only external offerings and can do nothing to transform us or enhance our relationship with Him.

Going into a church building and acting like we believe a Christian should act will not clear our conscience, will not change our hearts, will not allow us to draw closer to God. Living as if God’s presence is alive and active within us, through us and out from us is possible because the Great High Priest gave us entrance into the most personal, holy place that God resides … our hearts.