In today's Scripture, we see that same type of longing. A longing to be home; a longing to be back in God's house. Psalm 84 was most likely written by a Levite who had served in the Temple and for some reason, such as an attack on Judah, had been barred access to the Temple. We see in verses one and two that he yearns to be in the Lord's house. He remembers how beautiful the Temple was and wishes that he could be back in the courts of the Lord.
In verse 3, the psalmist shows that he is even jealous of the sparrows! They have unhindered access to the Temple and the altar. They can come and go as they please---they can even build nests there! How he wishes he had that same easy access to God's house.
In verse 4, the writer states that he now understands how blessed a person is if he has access to the house of the Lord--not as a pries, but as a guest. How such people praise God is easily understood by the psalmist.
In verse 9, the psalmist prays for the king. If the king's armies are blessed, than the psalmist will once again be able to return to the Temple.
In verse 10 we learn what the psalmist's job was in the Temple. He had a very humble position as the doorkeeper. He realizes that despite the simple position and his humble station, he would rather be a doorkeeper in the service of God than share in the lives of those who don't know and honor God.
Some people travel life's highway for a long time. Their road is long and winding. Others, like my son, only get to travel for a short while. Their road is straight and short. Whether our journey is long or short, we have to continue on the pathway until we reach the end---until we reach home. For some, the journey will end joyously, as they hear the words of our Lord, "welcome home, my child, welcome home." For others, the journey will end as a nightmare that never ends as they find themselves without the God or His Son for an eternity.
Your journey has already begun. It began the moment you were born. Some of you have been travelling for a relatively short time; others for much longer. Your destination--your eternal home is waiting at the end of the journey. Verse 12 gives us the key. The psalmist says, "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord." The one who trusts in the Lord and has Christ in his heart is truly blessed, for his home will for ever be within the house of the Lord---truly at home in the presence of Jesus.
(Read Matthew 23:23)Very few people are flawlessly perfect in their appearance. I daresay that there isn't anyone who wouldn't change some little something about his appearance if he could. Who wouldn't like to have pounds suddenly melt away or lines erased? The advertising media knows this very well. They present their products with this very idea in mind. Use a certain make-up and you'll look like the model advertising it; buy a certain kind of perfume and men will suddenly stop and buy you flowers; or buy a home gym and you will have a body builder's body in no time!
Plastic surgeons make mega-bucks annually doing plastic surgeries on people who only want to look better---a tummy tuck; face lift; new nose; etc. This overwhelming desire to look perfect starts at a very early age. My son, Will, had his hair cut a new way last year---in a flattop. He prissed and pranced all the way from the barber shop to the van, combing his hair with the new brush all the way! When he got into the van, he pulled down the mirror and said, "ain't I good looking!"
Unfortunately, many people spend so much time working on their image that they forget the lesson of Matthew 23:23. It seems that Jesus was more intolerant of the self-righteous Pharisees than of anyone else. His meaning is clear. What we are inside, in our hearts, is far more important that what we appear to be outside. So, we're to be ourselves--be natural--or as Flip Wilson used to say, "what you see is what you get."
One Halloween, a mother was trying to get her son to decide what he wanted to be that year. The child kept insisting, "I want to be just Danny." How refreshing! Too many are afraid to be themselves, but the child wanted to just be himself! When we stop to realize just who we really are, we see there's no need to hide. (Read Genesis 1:27) We are fine as we are---God created man in His Own image!
Do our lives reflect that fact? Do we reflect God? God created man in His image; we are to be like Him. How can we hope to accomplish this? We can't; God can. Remember light cannot shine if it is not hooked up to the power source and turned on. We can only shine, as Christians, if we are hooked up to God and reflect His light. The light Christians emit comes from the Son. We need Christians to stand up and be just that---Christians. The word "Christian," means a flower of Christ; to be Christ-like. If we are going to talk the talk, let's walk the walk.
Spiritual image is far more important that one's physical image, and yet most people never give their spiritual image a second thought. Christians are to be a representation of Christ; a symbol for him. We spend a lot of money trying to change and enhance our physical appearance, it's time we started taking care of our spiritual image as well.
I don't know about you, but if I had to choose between a perfect physical image and a good spiritual image, I'd choose spiritual over physical. Some of the most beautiful people I've ever known would never have won a beauty contest. Their beauty came from inside; their Christ-like spiritual image showed thru---that made them beautiful to me.
Like the little boy on Halloween, let's just be ourselves. There is no one that God wants you to be, but yourself. He does, however, want you to be the best you that you can be. The best you can be is only possible if your spiritual image is projecting the love of God within you.