Building a Habitation through Worship
As we enter into 2024, many people are filled with anticipation for the new year; others sense anxiety and uncertainty. Some will assess their lives and make New Year's resolutions.
As I have prayed into the new year for myself and for our community at Making Melody Music Academy (that's you!), I have been reminded again of Jeremiah 32:39: "I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship Me forever."
Worship truly is our highest calling and what we were created for. Before we are called to make a difference in society, we are called to worship. Before we are called to plant churches or start businesses or raise children, we are called to worship. This is the greatest thing we could ever do.
One of the beautiful results of worship is that it creates a habitation – a dwelling place, or a resting place – both for the Lord and for us.
In the New Testament, we find that Jesus often traveled to Bethany to stay at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Why? He was loved there. They worshipped Him, and He made their home His habitation.
God has always desired to live with us. In Exodus 25:8, He told the people of Israel to "build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them." Psalm 22:3 tells us that He lives within the praises of His people. So as we worship Jesus, we create a space for Him to abide. Through worship, our hearts, our homes, our families, and our churches can become sanctuaries for the Lord.
Worship creates a habitation for the Lord, but it also creates a habitation for us. Psalm 91:9 says, "You have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place." Some translations render the word "dwelling place" as "habitation." "You have made the Most High your habitation." God is our habitation. He is our refuge, our dwelling place. As we worship, we invite Him near, and we create a sanctuary for Him to dwell and for us to dwell. It’s a place of refuge, a home, a habitation.
My desire for us this year is that we would begin to build a habitation for the Lord through worship – that our hearts would become His dwelling place, that our churches would become His sanctuary, and that our houses would truly become His home.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.