Seek God Daily

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God,
1 Corinthians 6.19 NRSV

I was fascinated recently to learn that the Greek word used for 'temple' in this passage is naos, which does not refer to the whole temple as such, but rather to the sanctuary. It is the difference between the main body of the church building as compared to the area behind the altar rail. This, as we Anglicans know, is a very holy place. And the body is this holy place and its altar is the heart. In the Old Testament Temple the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, was a very holy place where we are told that the LORD would commune with the high priest from above the altar.

Imagine now that our bodies are the Holy of Holies and that the LORD communes with us there. Well, imagine is not the right word: realize now that our bodies are the Holy of Holies, and the LORD communes with us there in our hearts!! I can imagine that on that holy day of atonement when the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, it was very quiet and the Priest would be listening intently for the communing presence of the LORD. May we respect our bodies as this Holy of Holies, and may we be attentive to the communing of God in our hearts. He is there! Listen!!

“Seek God daily. But seek Him in your heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, for your heart has become a throne of God. But in order to find God, become humble as dust before the Lord, for the Lord abhors the proud, whereas He visits those that are humble in heart, wherefore He says: “To whom will I look, but to him that is meek and humble in heart?”

~St Nektarios of Aegina

LORD have mercy, Brian+