2010 – Day 33. Feb. 2 – Anointed for Holiness

Study from Exodus 39 – 40; Passage for Reflection: Exodus 40: 9 … NIV [God to Moses] "Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.”

My Journal for Today: What’s going on here in Exodus 40 (and on into Chapter 41), where the Tabernacle and the Priesthood are being Anointed with oil by Moses at God’s command? Is there something magical or extra-spiritual about the oil (which, by the way, is not specified by any type of oil)? No, what is going on here is the reality that the Tabernacle (i.e., God’s “Temple”) is being “set apart” as a Holy place where God, Himself, can and will reside. And that place must be so designated and consecrated, as well as those who enter the “Holy of Holies,” because these anointed Priests are to be in the place where God Himself has chosen to reside.

Do you see what implication this ritualization of Holiness has upon you and me as Christians in the New Covenant, where Jesus Christ has become our Tabernacle and His Spirit resides in the Holy of Holies, … our hearts. From the standpoint of the Church, God resides in His Body, the Church collective (see 1st Cor. 3:16-17 - linked); and from the standpoint of each individual Christian (see 1st Cor. 6: 19-20 - linked), God, the Holy Spirit, Who is One with God, the Father and God, the Son, resides in the place which should be consecrated as the Holy of Holies – our hearts.

So, this brings up the ultimate question for all of us from studying how God wanted His Tabernacle (i.e., His Temple of Holiness) to be anointed (i.e., “set apart”) where He, The Lord, could reside. It must be a place anointed (i.e., “dedicated”) to absolute Holiness; and this raises the biggie question for me today: “Bill Berry, is your heart set apart for holiness?” Since I am the place, along with any born-again Christian, where God has chosen to reside, I must ask myself if my heart (i.e., my body) is worthy of His residence there?

And my answer? Well, my answer is my answer! And your answer to that question must be yours. But God certainly knows where the process of our being anointed for His Holiness now stands. And He deserves to reside only in a place – our hearts – which is “set apart” for His holiness. What we need to do to clean out and anoint this place for our Lord is something we all must do in our own hearts to make it a Holy place for God’s Spirit to reside.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, may I be anointed for Your Holiness. Amen