What does a home mean to you? I think if we are like most people, our homes are extremely important to us, and they take a tremendous amount of our time and resources to acquire and maintain. There is a popular saying which says, “the home is where the heart is” and I think that’s a valid statement. Our hearts crave certain things for our homes.
There is a practical side of it all where we try extremely hard to create and operate within a framework that provides security. It’s a dangerous and unpredictable world out there. Our physical homes are a security boundary, and a place to store physical items that we believe will satisfy our physical needs.
Then there is the creative side of it. We like to express our styles and our preferences in our homes such as color and décor. Most want to build and maintain a house that’s more than just a place in which to exist, but one in which to really enjoy life in. A home. Again, people’s hearts typically are in whatever work they do to build and maintain such an environment.
If I were to change the question a bit and ask what does a spiritual home mean to you, what would you say? I mean a spiritual home now, not just in the future when we’re changed to spirit beings.
Christians hear messages about how to properly build and maintain our spiritual home such as the foundation it needs to be built upon, and the tools necessary to build it. But when and where is such a place now? The question could actually be asked a little differently, as “where do you dwell?” Where is a spiritually constructed security boundary laid out? Where is there a storehouse of spiritual food that can sustain us?
We often branch off from here and talk about the Church as a spiritual organism and not some physical construct. Then the church can truly be called a temple whose construction we can contribute to and in which we can dwell.
For the sake of my emphasis today, I want us to consider our individual responsibility of a dwelling for our minds led by the Holy Spirit. That place is the Word of God: “…man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV).
While the words typed on paper or screen are physical, the concepts relayed are spiritual. It takes a mind led by the Spirit to grasp it’s full meaning and intent, and to understand the depths of God’s love for His creation. This is true life-giving food and security. His word is a place that followers of Christ should intimately know and spend time in, to dwell in.
In turn, the nature of God which is defined in His word should dwell in us and be revealed through us by our living by it. God’s word is the primary method from which He speaks to us now. Do we think about the fact that God is speaking to us directly and individually? Do you feel at home in God’s Word. And does it find a home in us?
Why am I saying it this way? Because like a physical home, God’s word lays out boundaries in which we can find security and comfort. It’s a place where our heart is to be. A problem, however, is that many of us treat God’s word more like a vacation spot than a home. We only go to it when we’re under a lot of pressure. Or when we’re anxious. Or we’re experiencing a trial. Do we just treat Christ’s words as a little break from everyday life? Perhaps it’s a place you only visit on “church” day.
But Christ expects us to dwell in God’s perfect law, and His law to dwell in us. To know how God thinks, we need to be spending some quality time in His word. If we don’t then we will miss dwelling in a clean comfortable organized spiritual “home”. His word is reassuring and provides sustenance not just in times of desperate need, but all the time.
King David had so much to say about this. How many of the psalms and other songs could we read that proclaim a deep reverence for God’s laws and precepts? His mind of love is laid out for us. In Psalm 119 alone the “Word” is mentioned over 40 times. One example:
“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation (dwelling place) all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation (dwelling place). I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:97-104 ESV). Here’s a mind which dwells in God’s word, a spiritual home designed to satisfy our every need.
Like any quality home, there are three key characteristics of God’s word that make it of solid, durable construction. A place in which we can safely dwell.
First, is that God Himself is the architect and the master builder of it. Just like everything else on the earth created by Him in its beauty, design and purpose as a place for mankind to physically dwell, He also laid out His word as a place for our Spirit led mind to dwell.
We are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As the Master Architect, He lays out detailed specifications about how to live lives of purpose. We are to be building a spiritual home, creating an “add-on”, or addition. God’s word lays out a standard that we’re building to. It must have a solid foundation and good components. It must be level and true to conform to the standards laid in the law.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people) and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV). We have the mind of Christ, the author of the word, His Book.
So, “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder (or author) and perfecter of our faith,…” (Hebrews 12:1 ESV).
Dwelling in the divinely inspired word of God can likewise create in us a dwelling place where His Holy Spirit can guide, inspire, and lead a willing mind but never by force. That’s Satan’s way. God’s ultimate desire is that we all eventually become filled with the spiritual mind and nature of God so we can dwell eternally with Him as His children.
While a properly built “addition” contributes to the strength of the overall house, in order to build that properly, we need a solid plan. My second point is that it just so happens that His word lays out a good plan for us from which to build. We need to learn the vision of our Master Architect as laid out in plan form to know what to do and what not to do in the construction of this spiritual temple:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV).
God’s Spirit is not going to want to dwell in a mind that doesn’t dwell in His living Word or as the psalm said it, “meditate on it day and night”. This is not just some intellectual exercise either. It means both studying it and living by it. We have to live in this world, but a huge part of ‘dwelling in this world today’ involves our liberal partaking of various forms of the media that are designed purposely to distract and corrupt. We need to be diligent builders following our Master Builder as a mentor. A profitable, spiritual builder builds on a solid foundation of godly truth, knowledge, understanding and wisdom, all of which are found in His Word.
Here is some additional instruction on how to be a quality builder: “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:19-21 ESV).
Part of the plan is for us to discover the sin in our lives and to root it out, to depart from inequity. This means we’ve got to get to know Him and really discover the truth of His word and how we fall short. And how to make the changes that we need to make. We need interaction with Him in prayer, talking to Him about what’s happening in our lives. Then listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit working with us as we dwell in His word to find the solutions. It’s got to be guiding our decisions, attitudes, and the way we treat others. If we are married, His word needs to dwell in our marriage. It needs to dwell in our families. It needs to dwell in the Church. Praying and listening should be underlying everything we do.
In short, the plan is to dwell in God’s word rather than in this ungodly world and to build a quality building following the Master Builder’s guidance on how we conduct ourselves in thinking and words and actions as His children and representatives of His family to bring glory to Him.
A third concept that I would like us to briefly consider is the tremendous benefit of zeal that can come from dwelling in His word. God is zealous and enthusiastic about His plan. He fervently wishes to share His mind and His way of life with us in His creation. He wants to share that with us for all eternity. We need to be stirred with that kind of enthusiasm now and dwelling in His word can really bring that to life.
Look at the significant frame of mind of the people who built the first tabernacle of God: “And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, (was willing and zealous) and brought the LORD’s contribution …” (Exodus 35:21 ESV).
It’s so important that we continue with this willingness and enthusiasm for completing the job of building our spiritual house. In appreciation of God’s love for us and our returning love for God, shouldn’t we be continually stirred and willing to build that house God’s way?
He is a Master Architect who’s both capable and worthy and as the Architect, He laid out a masterful plan for success. He is full of zeal and enthusiasm for His plan and the part we play in it. That is all spelled out in His word if you dwell in it.
Regarding any special techniques that can help in this endeavor, dwelling in the word means to read it with openness to be formed and transformed by it. There’s a distinct difference between approaching God’s word through informational reading as opposed to formational reading.
The informational reading is more aligned with just checking a box or maybe even reading critically in order to satisfy our perceptions and needs. In other words, we want to control it.
Formational reading approaches it with humility and a mind like the mind of a servant ready to receive instruction. It’s about quality and depth not just quantity. Ask God in your prayers to help you read His living word with more of a formational mindset.
People who know God’s mercy and peace in their life experience a foretaste of God’s ruling kingdom now. They will feel at home. To those who faithfully dwell in His word and follow His laws of love, God promises His joy and presence, and security in the here and now. And that’s encouraging.
I would ask you, don’t make God’s word a vacation home. A place you only visit sometimes. Make it a delightful home for your mind to continually dwell in.
Tim Vail