Deep underneath the South American jungle are the ruins of Mayan temples. NASA is using satellites and aircraft to uncover the ancient ruins. On the screen, the ruins are detected by a yellowish area. From the air, only the tops of a few pyramids are visible. On the ground, the dense undergrowth can conceal ruins which are only ten feet away.
We can learn from NASA and the Mayans temples. Sometimes we try to hide our own temples in our hearts. However, the Holy Spirit and the Bible searches our hearts for anything displeasing to God. We read in Hebrews 4:12-13
13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
14 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (KJV)
What do we do with images of our heart that the Holy Spirit shows us? We often try to hide the temples from ourselves and from others. We make sure there is enough of spiritual undergrowth to hide everything. We say the right things, and go to church. We play the part.
Then we try to hide from ourselves. We make excuses. We get God’s long-suffering confused with His understanding. We reason with ourselves that God understands our situation. His patient is proof that we are exempt from what the Bible says. This line of thinking is as old as Adam and Eve.
The temple maybe a good cause, we whitewash the outside walls. At the same time we hide misguided motives. We end up building temples to the unholy god of self. Inside we hide our own idols. The drug addict never planned on becoming hooked, the Pharisee never planned on becoming so full of himself that he couldn’t see God. They are not that different, one is hooked on pleasure, while the other is hooked on pride. Saul of Tarsus never intended to murder the followers of the one he studied about. He went from a student of God’s Word, to one that wrecked havoc on the ones who believed in the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets. Acts 8:3 describes it in detail
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. (KJV)
This was not a man who debated Christians at the local coffee shop, or kosher bar. Saul wanted to destroy Christianity from the start. The Law and the Prophets he knew every which way, but on the inside. He was too full of himself to let Christ in. He had built temples of pride and ego. Saul of Tarsus was a cream of the crop Pharisee. We can fall into the same trap. We begin to think God is lucky to have someone like us. Then we begin acting on our own. We make mistakes but keep plowing on because we think we are right. Like the Mayan temples, our self made walls will eventually crumble.
When we realize we can’t do it on our own and we don’t have any where to turn, that’s when God steps in. He gives grace to empty hearts. The conversion of the Apostle Paul is recounted three times in the book of Acts. Why? Because it is one of the main events in Christianity, if Saul of Tarsus can be converted, then anyone is within the reach of God’s grace. Saul had misguided zeal for the Lord, yet God saved him. When our walls start to crumble, God is willing to perform the same miracle of grace as he did for the Apostle Paul.
