Day 26 - Ezekiel

"The the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.  While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them.  They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of God of Israel was above them."  -Ezekiel 10:18-19

God is a gentleman.  Bottom line, He doesn't go where he's not welcome.  That's really the gist of this story in Ezekiel.  I love Ezekiel because it's full of just crazy stories.  Ezekiel sees wild visions and gets unbelievable words from God.  This is another wild vision to which he's privy.

God's glory leaves the temple.  They didn't want him there anyway.  I mean, Israel was acting pretty much opposite of the way God had designed them to.  They were practicing idolatry, worshiping other Gods, and pretty much turning their backs on God.  So He left.  Because He's a gentleman.  And he doesn't go where He's not wanted.

Now, before you get freaked out.  God promises to come back.  He promises that He'll keep reaching out to His people and draw them back to Him.  It will require them to go through some pretty rough stuff, but this isn't the end.  But, for right now, He's stepping out.

So, that leaves us with a pretty important question:  Is God welcome in us?  Now we are the temple.  The New Testament teaches that our bodies are the temple of God.  He dwells in people now.  So is He welcome in you?  Sometimes, I think God just needs to step away if He's not welcome in us.  And I think He does.  That doesn't mean God is giving up on us, it just means that he doesn't go where He's not welcome.  If God seems distant, it's probably because we haven't exactly rolled out the welcome mat for Him.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  We can make our heart to be a place that God wants to camp out.  We can make sure that our attitude reflects His Word.  We can make sure that there are no idols in our temple.  We can make sure that we have a heart that is totally committed to Him.  We can make it warm and welcoming.  He wants to live there.  Be sure you're temple is ready for a live in guest.