If
you lived in Kentucky and decided to take a trip to the ‘Big Apple’, you might
tell your friends that you’re going “up” to New York. If you were from Maine and decided to take a
trip to sunny Boca Raton, you might say you’re going “down” to Florida. Each example is correct if you were
describing the direction you were traveling.
North being “up” and South being “down”.
Which direction are you going?
“Up” or “Down”? Does ‘up’ and
‘down’ have different connotations to different people?
When
the Bible mentions people traveling to Jerusalem it’s always UP to
Jerusalem, and it’s always Down from Jerusalem. Why you may wonder? They aren’t talking about compass points, or
vacation destinations, they are referring to altitude! That’s right; it’s about an altimeter reading. Jerusalem is located on a hill!!! It is over 2500 feet above sea level.
Can
you find Jerusalem on a map of Israel?
The Sea of Galilee? The Jordan
River? The Dead Sea? Bethlehem?
The Gaza Strip? The West
Bank? OK, you don’t have to find
everything, but Jerusalem,
c’mon! Check your geography
knowledge. If God thought it was
important, we should too. Jerusalem is
the capital of the only kingdom God ever established among men. It is the spot God himself graced with his
continuing presence. He himself chose it
to be his earthly home. No site in all
of Scripture has received such constant and exalted praise as Jerusalem. 1 Kings 14:21 tell us that Jerusalem is the
city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his
Name. Think about that. If God cared so much for his city, wouldn’t
it stand to reason he would care for us, his people even more? After all, WE are where HIS presence dwells
on earth today.
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple,
and that God’s spirit lives in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:16
“As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among
them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.””
11 Corinthians 6:16
"You are the light of the world. A city built on a
hill cannot be hidden.”
Matthew 5:14
Please
thank God for his continual watch-care over you. He would love to hear from you.
Pingates
Hyper Smash
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