Dwelling in the secret place

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." -- Psalm 91:1 (NKJV)

The secret place of the Most High means nothing less than the inner sanctum of the heavenly temple, and the shadow of the Almighty is located between the wings of the cherubim on the ark of the covenant. What does it mean to dwell there?

In the natural, I have had several dwelling places, including dorm rooms, apartments, and houses. In every case, I have been able to visit other people's dwellings, but my own dwelling is always different. I do not spend all of my time, or even most of it, in my dwelling, but I have special privileges there like I have nowhere else.

First of all, I have the key to my dwelling. I can go in and out any time I want. Not only that, I can relax there like nowhere else. If someone I'm visiting says, "make yourself at home," that doesn't mean I can help myself to whatever food I'm in the mood for, undress, spend the night, or any of the other things I can do at home. I can safely be more vulnerable at home than anywhere else.

Second, most of my stuff is there. Even when I lived in a tiny furnished apartment and didn't own much but clothes, books, and stuff for the kitchen and bathroom, I kept it at the apartment.

So what does it mean to dwell in the inner sanctum of the heavenly temple? For one thing, it means dwelling in a family. For part of my life, I lived alone. No one will dwell in the secret place of the Most High alone. After all, God lives there, too.

Christians, one and all, are adopted sons of God and part of the church, which is the bride of Christ. (There is no male of female in the body of Christ. If any woman is queasy about being a son or if any man is uncomfortable being the bride, get over it!)

Additionally, it does not mean we spend our whole time in church, or in a personal quiet time, or anything else that's "religious." There's no religion in the secret place. I'm not always at home here on earth, but I'm always married to my wife whether I'm home (or she is) or not. Love constrains me from being unfaithful.

Most importantly, if I dwell in the secret place, in my Father's house, I must know he loves me and desire to please him. Absent my love for God, I can hardly expect or even desire the privileges of home. The key of the kingdom, and dwelling within it, is Peter's confession of the lordship of Christ. Don't think about house rules, by the way. The concept of rule keeping entirely negates the whole concept of grace.

To love God as I ought utterly requires that I love nothing else more. Jesus said to store up treasure in heaven, and that our heart is where our treasure is. In a materialistic society like ours, that means that we can't love our stuff so much that it gets in the way of loving God.

My dad has had a lifelong hobby of woodworking, and for twenty years or so, he also blew glass. Glass objects and furniture he made are my most prized possessions. I love them more than anything comparable made by professionals. I do not love them more than I love him. How much more, then, must I love God, in whose house I want to dwell, more than any of the stuff I can accumulate or the money it takes to get it?