“Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?” (I Cor 6:19) Paul may be the one writing the letter to the Corinthians, but he is not the one asking the question. He's just the scribe. The Spirit of the One who created the universe is asking.
Why do suppose He is asking us that question? I would suggest you pause before you immediately answer. I did. And I keep on pausing every time I hear that question.
I hear it every day because I started three months ago asking that question every morning. Those many pauses have forced me to let go of all my ‘learned’ answers to that question and wait for Him to tell me what He wants me to know about that question. I’m going to continue until He tells me to stop.
But I will share just a few revelations that have come from those pauses. One morning as I paused, the scripture “The Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit is there is Liberty” (II Cor 3:17) just, suddenly, popped into my head. And, before my brain could get in the way, I suddenly ‘knew’ that LIBERTY was one of the reasons He wants me to know that I am His temple.
Another time in my pause, some physical challenges I was facing popped into my consciousness. Immediately, I ‘knew’ that those issues were not mine but His. Yet another reason why He wants to know that I am His temple. I’ll share one more, then I’ll leave any more pauses to you.
This particular morning, I was feeling very overwhelmed by a flood of depressing ‘knowing’ coming in on me. They were negatives about my life, my family, my friends, about my country. And, then right in the middle of that flood, once again, a scripture just popped in my mind, “As He is, so am I!” (Eph 1:20) I ‘knew’ yet another reason why He wants me to know that I am His temple is to replace that flood of depressing ‘knowing’ with His ocean of Shalom.
And the beat goes on. Give it a try! But I warn you, that if you do, you may find it really hard to stop.