My Life, God’s House

READ: 1 John 3

This is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.

As we were leaving Israel after our last visit, I invited our Jewish guide to visit us in Michigan. “As a matter of fact,” Tony said, “I’m planning to come this summer.” Before I had time to enjoy the good news, I had an alarming thought: What in the world will we show Tony when he comes to Grand Rapids?

• We could show him Lake Michigan—but he’s shown us the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee.
• We could take him to the top of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and show him the Grand River valley—but he’s taken us to the top of Mount Carmel and shown us the valley of Armageddon.
• We could show him the Sixth Street bridge with the lights on—but he’s shown us the holy city of Jerusalem with its white stone buildings sparkling in radiant sunlight.
• We could show him the Grand Haven musical fountain—but he’s shown us a desert fountain that waters the biggest oasis on the face of the whole earth: Jericho.
• We could show him our fish ladder and let him watch determined salmon fighting their way upstream—but he’s shown us an entire nation that has been fighting upstream for centuries.

Then I had this reassuring thought: It’s not where I live that matters; it’s who lives in me. Although Tony showed us the ruins of King Herod’s seaport city of Caesarea, the place where the Holy Spirit first came to Gentiles (Acts 10), Tony couldn’t show us where the Holy Spirit lives now.

And that’s what we can show him. Tony needs to see Christians filled with the Holy Spirit of God, living in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Tony needs to see people abounding in such peace and joy that it overflows to others in acts of love, mercy, and compassion.

Tony isn’t the only one who needs to see these things, of course. Friends, family, roommates, professors, co-workers, and bosses all are desperate to see people whose lives are the dwelling place of God. —Julie Ackerman Link

REFLECTION

• How would my life be different if I would let God have His way more often?
• Whom do I know whose life is filled with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23). What can I do today to become that kind of person?

People need to see Jesus in me.

campus journal