The Gate of Heaven

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE GATE OF HEAVEN

Gen 28:16-17

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

NIV

How awesome is this place, it is the house of God, the gate to heaven. Is that not the story of our local churches. Each church is a house of God, and Jesus said His house will be a house of prayer. It has always been a wonder, I have pondered on this for some time that as we enter the house of God, it does not seem as awesome of a place as it should be because of too much chitter-chatter going on and not enough people sitting preparing to meet with the Living God, especially in the sanctuary. I can understand out in the foyer, or narthex, or whatever people call it. Some of the bigger churches are geared toward the younger generation, they even have a coffee bar, donuts, and such. Busy is all about being friendly. However, I think that when we enter that awesome place, the house of God, the sanctuary where we come to worship the Living God, giving Him all the praise and worship with our whole hearts, worshipping in spirit and in truth, for that is the kind of worshipper the Lord God seeks, we should be still and know that he is God, preparing our hearts for that kind of worship. Preparing to meet with the Living God should be our highest honor and purpose and this is the place of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit indeed dwells within us, and thus in that sense we are always in the presence of our Lord God, or He is always in our presence. But Jesus made it clear about the temple of God, that it should be a house of prayer, a place to meet with God. When we are in the sanctuary in prayer within our hearts we may well be at the gate of heaven.