Thursday, February 20, 2014
The Ark of the New Covenant
[S] = Scripture; [O] = Observation; [A] = Application; [P] = Prayer.
Quiet time thoughts from earlier this month .....
[S] 1 Kings 8:9 NIV84
There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
[O]
The ark was being moved into the Most Holy place in the temple that Solomon had just completed. As I read this, it occurred to me that the terms of the old covenant were written on stone and kept in an ark - a special wooden box made by the hands of men. But the terms of the new covenant are now internal to man, not external, written on hearts - kept in the ark of the new covenant, heart.
[A]
My heart is sacred, holy ground! I've observed how much care was taken to move the ark of the old old covenant; how revered that box, made by the hands of men, was to the Israelites because God's glory was there! And I have inside of me the ark of the new covenant - not made by the hands of men but rather God's when I passed from death to life. A circumcised heart by the hand of God - a place prepared by Him for His new covenant. Wow! Be in awe of this! The living covenant inside me. Wow! Be careful with my heart .... (Prov. 4:23-27; Phil. 4:4-7)
[P]
O Lord, this strikes me so freshly today! This is even far more profound than I understand. I ask you, Lord, to magnify this in my understanding. Help me be even more in awe of this - of you! Amen.
Quiet time thoughts from earlier this month .....
[S] 1 Kings 8:9 NIV84
There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
[O]
The ark was being moved into the Most Holy place in the temple that Solomon had just completed. As I read this, it occurred to me that the terms of the old covenant were written on stone and kept in an ark - a special wooden box made by the hands of men. But the terms of the new covenant are now internal to man, not external, written on hearts - kept in the ark of the new covenant, heart.
[A]
My heart is sacred, holy ground! I've observed how much care was taken to move the ark of the old old covenant; how revered that box, made by the hands of men, was to the Israelites because God's glory was there! And I have inside of me the ark of the new covenant - not made by the hands of men but rather God's when I passed from death to life. A circumcised heart by the hand of God - a place prepared by Him for His new covenant. Wow! Be in awe of this! The living covenant inside me. Wow! Be careful with my heart .... (Prov. 4:23-27; Phil. 4:4-7)
[P]
O Lord, this strikes me so freshly today! This is even far more profound than I understand. I ask you, Lord, to magnify this in my understanding. Help me be even more in awe of this - of you! Amen.
