LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

The location of something certainly makes a difference. Homes are valued by the neighborhood in which they were built. Businesses fail or succeed depending on the amount of traffic. Swimming is a lot more pleasant in a swimming pool than in shark-infested waters. And while it is possible to worship Jesus Christ in a Mosque or a Synagogue, I highly recommend assembling together with like-minded people (Heb. 10:25). Even something as simple as finding one's keys often depends on the location you tossed them. One of my favorite sayings is, "a place for everything and everything in its place." I am more lazy than organized, but either way, it makes life so much easier.

Before Jesus came in His many Christophanies and eventually in the flesh, man's knowledge of God was that He was "elsewhere." He made appearances in the form of a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21), but to say He was actually limited in location to the Holy of Holies is definitely wrong. God is Omnipresent and His location is, in all seriousness, everywhere (Ps. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:23-24). With the Incarnation of Christ, God lived as Emmanuel, which means "God with us" (Matt. 1:23). Today, born-again Christians experience God within (Jn. 14:17; 1 Cor. 3:16). To the indwelt believer, the location of God has gone from being seen as "distant," to being our resurrected Savior, to being the very life within us. Ironically, God has not moved; He has drawn us unto Himself (Jn. 6:44; 12:32).

The real question, when it comes to location, is where are you? I assume that those who take the time to read what I write believe in God. I hope that the God each of you believes in is the God of the Bible. I pray that you have accepted the Son of that God as your Savior and Lord. If you have, then all is well, and you are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the Day of Redemption, the day Christ "collects" those who are His (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). So in reality, your opinion of the location of God depends upon your response to His drawing you to Himself, and upon you accepting His sacrifice for your sin by the faith given you by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 11:28; 19:14; Jn. 6:65; 7:37; Eph. 2:8; 1 Jn. 1:22). God loves you!



NOTE: In a past post, I said that the story about bells on the High Priest's garment and rope around his ankle was not scriptural; I was only partly right. Exodus 28:33-35 describes the bells but I cannot find anything about a rope, or what to do if the High Priest dies in the Holy of Holies. The fact that no one has corrected me worries me. I hope and pray that those reading my posts will be noble enough to check my biblical references; after all, if the Apostle Paul needed to be "checked out," today's preachers and Bible teachers definitely need to be (Acts 17:11)!