Sun.’s Devo - Humility

Read: Ezekiel 40:28-41:26; James 4:1-17; Psalm 118:19-29; Proverbs 28:3-5 Today’s reading was a lot of measures and numbers which have meaning, but the thing I noticed was what was on the walls of all the rooms. There were carings of cherubim with two faces. A palm tree was between the cherubim with one face looking toward a tree and the other facing the tree on the other side. Everything about the temple was to remind them of the Garden of Eden. The carvings reminded them that there were two trees in the Garden and man had to choose between the trees. They chose the one that brought death so sin entered into the world. Every day we have a choice of which tree we are going to eat from. We can eat of the tree of life or the tree of death. It is interesting that in this Temple, the wood was not covered in gold. The exposed wood represented the temple in its unglorified state. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit but have not changed to our glorified state. Jesus looked totally different when he came back in his glorified state. To me, this temple shows the greatness of the influence of the Church but its humanity and humility also. The Temple of the New Covenant will be one of grace, not self-righteousness. In James, he tells us that our quarrels come from our evil desires that war within us. We have to war against wanting what this world has to offer. To be friends with the world makes us an enemy of God. James gives us the answer to how to please God and that is to be humble. The devil is the one who wants us to be proud and judgmental. When we criticize each other, we are really criticizing and judging God’s law. James ends with saying it is sin to know what we ought to do and then not do it. That is something to ponder. Lord, may we listen to your Holy Spirit and do what you tell us to do. May we have your heart and your mind and see from your perspective about people, the world and our own lives.