My Thoughts. . .
Monday, 10-25-2021

When I was a lot younger than I am now, a boyhood friend, who was a third cousin (that meant we were almost related to one another but weren’t) and I were together every day. Most of the time we stayed out of trouble. Sometimes we got close to it and at other times we ran to get away from it. In the summer we left our shoes at home and went barefooted and traveled to whatever swimming hole was closest, went hunting when we had ammunition, fished for and caught multiple crawdads, and played “mumlipeg” to see who could throw and stick the knife closer to the other one’s foot. Henry and I did not always agree. Sometimes a disagreement might produce “a cold shoulder” for a few days. During those times together he and I talked to one another on hundreds of boyhood topics. Silence was mandatory only when hunting.

When I was twenty, I decided to be buried with Jesus into his death, so I submitted to immersion for that burial and the following resurrection into the new life offered by Jesus (Romans 6:1-11). Jesus paid off my sin debt and God took up residence (indwelt) in me. This indwelling was not a temporary occupation. It was a 24/7 hour/day one. God was closer to me than Henry. He had a greater love for me than a third cousin could ever hope to exhibit. Although disagreement with Henry may have required a cooling off period when we did not speak to one another, my failure in being perfect did not cause God to kick me out of His fellowship. God and I had a relationship that we humans fail to appreciate.

Henry and I shared our experiences together which created our vocal exchanged. Although we might disagree, seldom did we allow it to continue disrupting our togetherness nor sharing communication with one another. Silence, when it did happen, meant our disagreement ended our talking to one another for a while. Did you know God is with you closer and more personal than any third-cousin, cousin, parent, child, or even your spouse? With Him being so close, why are we so silent? Why are our conversations with Him so sparse? If He were visible would that cause us to acknowledge Him more? For example, would we turn to Him and ask if He wanted to accompany us when we decided to go to our neighbor to give him a piece of our mind? Would we also remind Him that He needed to stick His divine fingers into His heavenly ears so He would not hear what we wanted to say to that neighbor? No, we usually forget He is there. In fact, He is more loving with us than we are with the spouse and all the others that have been mentioned. You and I may forget, but God continues to personally dwell in and love us.

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

So, how well are we doing with God’s occupancy?