the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 3
Ezekiel 43:2-7—Behold, the glory of the Lord filleth the house.
At the beginning of this book (Ezekiel 9:1-11; Ezekiel 10:1-22) we beheld the departure of the Shekinah cloud from the doomed temple. But now, to the new reconstructed temple it returns. So will God shed the sense of his presence through our hearts. We may have grieved Him, and lost it by defiling his holy name, and by the abominations which we have committed. But if we will resolutely put away our unfaithfulness, our coquetting with the world, our tampering with the flesh, He will return and dwell in our midst for ever. Behold, the glory of the Lord will fill the inner shrine of our spirit, and the earth will shine with his glory.
"Heaven above is softer blue;
Earth beneath in sweeter green;
Something shines in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen."
There is a very precious promise connected with the Divine return and indwelling: "I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and they shall no more defile my holy name" (Ezekiel 43:7). Be willing to admit God, and He will come. "If any man open the door, I will come in." Whenever God comes He will make the old sin abhorrent and impossible; and his indwelling will not be transient and fitful, but permanent and efficient. "They shall no more defile."
This is what we need. We cannot have holiness apart from the Holy One. The attribute may not be divorced from its possessor. But to the soul that desires holiness, the holy God comes, and infills, and keeps; so that darkness cannot intrude on the domain of light, nor hate on love, nor death on life. Has the Shekinah left thee? Lo, it returns by the way it went, and thine earthly life shall shine again.
