God, Bless My Home


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God, Bless My Home
		By: Krista Barley
In the Tabernacle, the place where the Ark was located was the place where God met his people and talked to them. In Exodus 25:22, God said, “I will meet you there and talk to you…” The Ark was located in the innermost part of the sanctuary, which was in effect God’s throne room. In a comparable pagan sanctuary, one would find an idol in this location. The Tabernacle had no idol, only a box that physically represented the covenant faithfulness and grace of God. God meets his people in that context, not in the context of idolatry.
	The Tabernacle itself functioned primarily as a residence or palace for God, the divine King. It came complete with instructions on how to secure God’s presence. God’s ultimate goal of delivering his people from bondage was to share his presence with them. The Tabernacle was the place God resided in the Old Testament. Today, he has chosen to take up residence in our hearts!! It is still to be a holy dwelling!! It still has to be fashioned according to his plans!
The place where the Ark resided was considered sacred, since it embodied God’s presence and sanctified its surroundings. After David tried unsuccessfully to move the Ark of the Covenant, he decided to keep it in the home of a man named Obed-edom. The Ark of God was taken to the Obed-edom’s home and remained there 3 months. The Bibles says the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and everything he owned – health, prosperity, family. Solomon built his wife a separate residence because his own residence was deemed holy, “for the Ark of the Lord has been there” (II Chron 8:11).
	God’s presence, which is a curse to the ungodly, is a blessing to his people who reserve the sacred things as sacred. Obed-edom apparently took care to preserve the Ark’s sanctity. How much more should we, the temple of the Almighty, preserve the sanctity of the things of God in our hearts and in our homes! How do we do this? We reverence his holy presence. We value the relationship and fellowship we have with him. We don’t take it lightly. We don’t just approach God any old way. But we reverence and honor him! In our homes, we talk about his goodness, we remember his mighty acts, we invite his presence. In our homes and in our hearts, we either secure a place for the presence of God Almighty and fellowship and instruction from him, or we guard our little idols and the things of the world that we deem more important than relationship with him. Oh, we don’t (most likely) have little statues and idols lying around our house – but we have ‘treasures’ ~ little priorities that come before our relationship and service to him. When we guard the sacred things of God in our homes, God blesses. If we want our children blessed, our homes blessed, our jobs blessed, we need to guard the sacred things of God! Honor him, and sit back watch him pour out his blessings in your life!
	Krista was raised in Stockton, CA. Spending a year on missions in Europe, she earned her bilingual diploma in French from the Alliance Francaise in Paris. In 1994, she married Jonathan Barley and moved to Hobart, IN. She has since earned her B.A. from Valparaiso University and a post-baccalaureate degree in Accounting from Indiana University. She and Jonathan have 3 children, Ethan, Julia, and Austin. They pastor First Church in Hobart, IN.

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