Build According to the Pattern
After the Israelites left Egypt and were well on their way, they came to the desert of Sinai. Moses went up Mount Sinai and met with the Lord. While he was there the Lord gave him the ten commandments and various laws and regulations to govern the Israelites and to order their lives. He also told Moses to build a tabernacle where Israel could worship God. God told Moses specifically "Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." Exodus 24:9. He went on to give Moses detailed instructions about every article of furniture, the boards, bars and pins that formed the framework of the tabernacle and the curtains that covered the framework. Nothing was left to the imagination. At the end of Exodus 24 the Lord said,"See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." This admonition was given again several other times in the next few chapters of Exodus.
When Stephen appeared before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:44) he said, "Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen." Paul wrote in Heb. 8:5 in talking about the high priest, "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. Evidently Moses was given a vision of something that is n heaven and he was told to build the tabernacle at its furnishings according to what he saw.
We have been given an instruction book on how to build our lives. The Lord expects us to build according to the pattern given us. He hasn't left us floundering, wondering what is expected, or how he wants us to do things. It's all in The Book, loud and clear.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God's worshipers "must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) Not only did he give us an instruction book, the truth (Psa. 33:4) but he has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us. We don't have to wonder how to worship God, he has told us how. When we build our lives according to the pattern given in his word, we actually become a tabernacle for God to come and dwell in. "In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Eph. 2:22. Paul said in 2 Corinthians that "Christ Jesus is in you."
So, how are you building? Are you building according to the pattern of God's word, or according to an earthly, worldly pattern where things, position and climbing up a ladder to hopefully achieve success are the most important things, or are you building according to the pattern God has laid out for us. Let's examine our lives and see if they measure up to the pattern shown to us in God's word. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of God." 2 Pet. 1:3
God is good all the time,
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