Look Up: Backstage Passes

Intro:
Have you ever made it backstage for a concert? Ever made it to the sidelines in a pro football game?

Can you imagine what it would feel like to be in the midst of the action around people you esteemed? I think it would be cool!

The closest I got was at the Tennessee football team practice 2 months ago. It was a rush to be near the coaches and the players. To be where it was happening. Not just to listen to sports talk radio and try to picture it but to actually be there & know what's going on! I'm a geek ... I accept it.

Read:
Psalm 122
A song of ascents. Of David.

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.

4 That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel.

5 There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure.

7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."

8 For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, "Peace be within you."

9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Think:
Can you see the pilgrims of Psalm 122 talking about their field level view? As you read this passage they have completed the long journey to Jerusalem to praise the Lord in His temple. They are on the field.

This Psalm reads like that. It is as if they are describing the joy of being AT the place where it all happens and important things happen. Can you pick it up in the words of verse 2? They are stoked to be standing in the gates! They'd made it!

Unfortunately, though, they do not have a backstage pass.

The temple was broken into courts and holy places. There were the outer courts that the "Gentiles" could get into. Didn't require a "field level pass". Then there were the inner courts that only the Jews could enter. But at the heart of the temple was the Most Holy Place. This was where God manifested Himself to the people. This was where God dwelt on earth ... when He showed up that is.

There was only 1 backstage pass to this and only 1 person that could get into this place and that only 1 time a year. This was not like getting one of Willy Wonka's golden passes. This was a scary responsibility to have! To come before God unclean would mean instant death. In fact, they tied a rope around the priest's ankle and put a bell around his waist so if he died the bell would go off and they could drag him out. So much for that backstage pass!

But the prospect of meeting with God and the need for His forgiveness demanded someone take the risk!

Today it is much different. All believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have a backstage pass. In fact, we don't have to go to an event, we don't need a field level pass ... we are the field, we are the temple we are the event! God dwells IN us. Think for a second. Think. Pray. This is deep stuff. You are where God dwells.

Not just 1 backstage pass, not just for 1 time a year but every believer ... all the time.

What is supposed to happen in a temple that God occupies? PRAISE! Look at Psalm 122:4 and 1 Cor. 6:20 above. This is not really about us but Him. He is the Lord. He is God. He is who we praise. We do not settle for modern worship if it only sings about me and my walk with God but subtly is more about me than Him. We must not tolerate that. We are to praise Him.

1 Cor. 6:20 is a command. We are commanded to glorify God with our lives, our choices and our bodies. After all He owns our bodies, He dwells in them and He has given us a backstage pass to meet Him face to face and praise His glorious name! Praise the Lord.

Do:
Will you take the backstage pass and meet with the Lord? Are you taking time to pray and seek His face? Are you crying out to Him for help?

If we were to listen to you talk for more than an hour would we know that you'd been near God? Would your language speak of His glory and goodness or would you sound just like someone that did not have a backstage pass?

DevoLink: Devotions to help you Link with God.