BUILDING A SPIRITUAL HOUSE FOR GOD’S DWELLING
Have you been building a spiritual house for God’s dwelling? It wasn’t a task exclusively given to Moses then David. Since believers bodies ARE the HOUSE of God now, this season of Elul is also about the seasonal cleaning of the house. Elul is for making each and every space within our mind, soul, spirit and body lovely and worthy for God’s dwelling.
A spiritual building requires maintenance, just as a physical building requires maintenance. This is our season for doing that maintenance. God’s house must not be neglected. Now is the time to do that annual maintenance we’ve been putting off. Clean the gutters. Wash the windows. Repair the places that have rotted and broken. In other words, we should clean out the cobwebs which have collected inside our souls. Repair those broken relationships. Mend those fences with the neighbors. Send up some prayers to those who don’t quite understand you yet. Take some flowers to that person who has hurt feelings because of your negligence.
We desire for God to occupy ALL of us. So, we must clean out the corners. We must sweep away the debris we have neglected to see. It is time to look closer. Things have accumulated all year. It is time to be cleaning them up. Therefore, in the season of Elul we work to sanctify our bodies and present them holy and pure before a Holy God. This is nothing that we can do on our own. It is only His Presence living within us that can cleanse us and make us whole. Jesus constantly makes all things new. This is His favorite season for tending to the world.
RETURNING
During Elul we are earnestly seeking His face for this type of purification. We desire for Him to return to any of the places where our unholiness has cast Him out. So, we begin the 40 days of cleaning house in hopes that we may grow closer to Our Father. We come to Him for grace and mercy. He helps us to change and transform. Like clay vessels, He is molding and making us into useful vessels for His Kingdom. One day the ordinary clay will turn to pure gold for The Kingdom. Elul is a sanctification process for the vessels of God’s living Temple.
MARKING HOLY SEASONS
We are now less than one month away from Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets. This means we are entering into this set-aside season of Elul. Now the calendar pages have turned to a time of self-examination and repentance. Right now we are in a time of preparation for a new civil year, as well as a time to prepare for our marriage to Yeshua. The Father gives the house. The Bride prepares it and gets it ready. The Groom sanctifies the house with His Holy Presence. It is a beautiful process.
Kings are crowned at the beginning of Hebraic civil years. The King of Kings is coming! This important time can be used not only by individuals, but also by nations of God’s people. As a whole body living and growing together, we want to be ready, clean and whole for sacred service. Elul becomes a time of renewal for The Body of Christ. We are making the whole castle of the King a holy and acceptable place for Him to dwell with us.
OLD THINGS NEW
Because it is a time of ending the old things and preparing for the new things, you could say that Elul is in some ways similar to the month of December on the Gregorian calendar. We desire for the next new year to be right before God. I think of how Jesus said, “I make all things new.” That is what the season of Elul is all about.
Elul brings a fresh new meaning to how we all need to be working together to fulfill the scripture found in 1 Corinthians 12: 26-27: If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy. You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.
If every part of The Body of Christ is to live in The Father’s House, it is time to make all the needed repairs. We must get the body ready. It is time for God’s Church and The Body of Christ to be about Ephesians 4: 16: From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Have you asked God what your work should be in this season? Yom Teruah is coming. Let’s be sure to get ready. The trumpet will blow and time as we know it may be no more. My urgent prayer today is that all of God’s people get ready.