Where Did He Go???

I could feel His presence-everywhere-during my travels last year.

It didn't matter if I was leading a Bible study in Spanish during my time at Mission Centers of Houston, if I was at St. Paul's Catholic Church in New York City or if I was visiting the Orthodox monastery outside of Kiev, Ukraine. I could feel the Holy Spirit in all of these places where believers meet to worship God. "When two or three gather in My name, there I am with them," Jesus said in Matthew 18:20. Sure enough, this is typical of Jesus to be found where people are meeting to honor Yahweh. When Jesus was twelve years old and his parents couldn't find him one time, where was he? In the temple, duh. Mary and Joseph thought that worse had come to worst, that some crazy man had kidnapped Jesus, and they were epic fails as parents of the dude who was supposed to be the Messiah. "Where did he go?" they asked, freaking out. But sure enough, Jesus was in the temple, speaking. "Of course I'd be in my Father's house," Jesus replied to his worried parents. I mean, it makes sense. If we want to find Jesus, shouldn't we go to the temple/church?

I believe that if we go to any place where people are gathered in God's name and seek God, we will find God's presence. We will see Him in some new way if we are truly looking. However, the Bible says that there's a new type of temple-us. Christians have the spirit of Christ-the Holy Spirit-living inside of them. In Jewish terms, the place where the Holy Spirit is is the temple. Therefore, it says in the book of Romans that Christians are a temple of God. But my question is this: if Jesus is supposed to be found in the temple, is He really found in our hearts today? Can people, like Mary and Joseph, who are looking for Jesus find Him in our lives? In our actions? In the words that we say? We are the temple. Is he there like he's supposed to be?

Every day, people are looking for Jesus. They're looking for him and wondering to see if He's the real deal about what we Christians say about him and whatnot. Can they find Him in the temple-our hearts? Is He evident in our lifestyles, in our little actions, in our motives? Jesus is supposed to be found in the temple. If he's not really found in our lives, maybe He was never really in us in the first place.