He measured the wall on all four sides. Each wall was 875 feet. The walls separated the holy from the ordinary. Ezekiel 42:20 (The Message)
After about 25 years into the 70-year exile, Ezekiel had a visitation by God, who took him to Jerusalem where a fellow was waiting to give the prophet a tour of the future Temple. The Temple that Solomon had built had been destroyed in the invasion and Ezekiel was shown how the Temple would be rebuilt. Everything was measured and plotted out and Ezekiel was told which rooms were to be holy and which rooms were to be for ordinary use. That’s where this scripture comes from. Walls separated the holy from the ordinary.
One of my favorite Easter stories comes from Luke 23:45. Just before Jesus died, the sun became dark and “the veil of the temple was torn in two.” I had always been told that this removed the separation between people and God. Thanks to the sacrifice that Jesus made, we can go directly to God with our joys, our concerns, and our daily lives.
If God is all around us, doesn’t that mean that he is also in our ordinary lives? If he walks with us through all our trials and tribulations, rejoicing with us when the good stuff happens, then I think that there is no time when he is not with us. He stands right there when we lay our babies down to sleep and he is there when we change their diapers.
God goes to school with us and watches as we try to grasp the complexities of calculus or Latin verbs. He is there when we graduate at the top of our class, and he is there if we end up leaving school early to strike out on our own. He is there in our poverty, and he is there in our wealth. There is nowhere where God is not.
That kind of puts a new spin on some of our daily activities. If God is with us when we’re changing tires or dusting the house, if he’s there when we’re washing the dog or playing with our children, it lifts those ordinary moments.
I’m not saying that we have to walk around spouting pious platitudes all the time, but it makes it easier to get to know God if we can feel comfortable with him when we’re wearing our old comfortable blue jeans and tee shirts. We’re more likely to go to him when we need serious help! I believe God longs to hang out with us. I believe he loves to go fishing with us, sitting beside the pond or in a boat with a line in the water, contemplating the meaning of the universe. The next time you walk out your door to go to work, you might try taking a deep breath and inviting God to help you get your day off to a great start! He might surprise you!
Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She has recently published her first book, Jessie’s Corner: Something To Think About, which is now available for purchase. Based on several lesser-known scriptures from the Bible, this is a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.
