Uncovering Holy

We have spent the last two days wandering throughout Jerusalem. It's a very hard experience to explain. It's a very hard city to grasp. There is layer upon layer of human history here in this place. David built the first city here, the first Temple, it was a tent really, to hold the Holy of Holies (the Arc of the Covenant). His son, Solomon build a grand Temple upon the hill. It was destroyed as the Babylonians captured the Israelites. When they came back to Jerusalem, they built a new but small Temple. When King Herod came, he built a grand, immense, wonderful Temple. It was destroyed by the Roman around 66 BC. Then came the Ottomans, the Byzantines, the Muslims ... and I get lost in the history. Pieces of each era have been left behind. The Roman city lies far beneath the ground, except for the treasures the have been uncovered.

There are so many walls and so many gates. The streets of the Old City are very narrow and very crowded. Claustrophobia sets in quickly. It is just crazy! Every type of people, every race, every language you can imagine. No wonder Jesus spent most of His time along the Sea of Galilee - I would have too!

We went to all the spots you should see in Israel as a Christian - The Church of the Nativity, The Mount of Olives, The Garden of Gethsemane, The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Garden Tomb. It is very hard to feel the holiness of these place when there are so many people around you. They feel like big tourist attractions - waiting in line, being pushed and shoved, and hurried along. Mostly they are gody shrines - cold and impersonal. Where is He?

What I do know of holy is that Holiness is not in these places. As intricate a part of the experience they are, Holiness is not found there (for me anyway).

Holiness is in your heart, in your soul - in the quiet places of your mind as you meditate on His words. Holiness is where you are ... right now. Not in Bethlehem or Jerusalem. Not on a rock or on a hill or in a cave. This is a land of much history. God left His thumbprint right here in human history - but He left it here for the rest of the story ... for your story ... so you can be where you are - saved by grace through faith. Though you don't see Him, though you don't see this land ... His holiness is inside of you. "Blessed are those wo have not seen and yet have come to believe." John 20:29

Holiness was felt on the steps of the Temple - uncovered from the earth. No church, no alter, no shrine. Hard, cold steps that have stood the test of time beneath the ground. Steps that Jesus came to at the age of 12 - when He amazed people with His knowledge of the Scriptures. Steps where Rabbi taught their disciples - where Jesus would have been found teaching His disciples. The steps where the Church was born on the day Pentecost when 3000 people were baptized. Here in the quietness of the stories recalled from my heart, His Holiness is felt.

I'm learning and discovering more about His Holiness each day. May you discover Holy in the depths of your heart this day, too.