Living Temples (Numbers 35:34)

You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell.
– Numbers 35:34

I want you to let that soak in. God speaking to his people about the promised land, where he’s going to dwell among them. And he says, do not defile this land because I dwell there.

Numbers 35:34 explains why we must guard what we allow into our minds and hearts.

Makes me think about when Moses encountered God in the burning bush. And God said, Moses, take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy. You’re in my holy presence. And it affects your posture even what’s on your feet in that place. And as we read this command, for God’s people to be holy, to not defile this land where he’s going to dwell in their midst, how much more should we today think about our bodies this way?

For all of us who are followers of Jesus, we have been filled with his Holy Spirit. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit of God. How much more would God say to us, to use the language of Numbers 35:34, you shall not defile your body, in the midst of which I dwell.

And so I just want to encourage you today to watch what you let come into your body, what you let come into your mind. Be very careful amidst hours of looking at screens, specifically our phones, be very careful in what you are letting into your body. Do not defile your mind, your heart, your soul, your physical body. Think about Jesus’s command to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s a command to not defile your heart, soul, mind and strength, to let them be wholly dedicated to pleasing the Lord.

Numbers 35:34 teaches us to honor God with our bodies.

So I just want to encourage you to consider any ways in which you are defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit, known as your body, any ways you are letting in to your temple, that which is not pleasing, honoring, glorifying to God, and for us just to pray. God, help us to be holy, as you are holy. Lord, we pray that our minds, our hearts, our souls, our physical bodies, our strength, that everything in us would be pleasing to you.

God, we praise you for the privilege of being your dwelling place, your Holy Spirit dwelling inside each of us. Oh God, help us to guard against all defilement of mind, body, and spirit. God, we pray you would help us to be careful about what we look at, think about desire, say, or do. Lord, we pray that you’d help us to be careful with what we allow to influence us.

God, we pray, help us to be holy, as you are holy, and to live in the fullness of your Holy Spirit in us, your life in us, with your power in us to lead people to life in you, just like you promised Jesus when you told us we would be filled with the Holy Spirit, so we’d be witnesses. Lord, we pray that you’d help us to lead others to life in you by the power of your Spirit in us.

Prayer for the Belitung People

God, we pray that for people around the world. We pray specifically for the Belitung people of Indonesia today. For 117,000 Malay-speaking men and women and children, hardly any of whom are followers of Jesus. God, we pray for your blessing on those few followers of Jesus among the Belitung. That by the power of your Holy Spirit in them, you would help them to be witnesses. God, we pray that you would raise up more witnesses to join them so that more people among the Belitung would be reached with the gospel and reconciled to you so that they might become temples in which you dwell. Oh God, we pray all of this according to your Word in Numbers 35:34. Please help us to be careful today, to be holy, as you are holy, in all that we think and do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.