The Temple of the Heart

As we awoke this morning in Amman, we began our last day in Jordan.  This day was dedicated to visiting the site of the ancient Roman city of Jerash.  The uniqueness of this site is due to its level of preservation and its massive scale.  For two hours we walked through relatively intact arches, temples and markets.  It was not difficult for the imagination to enter into life at the peak of this city.

One fascinating aspect of our experience was seeing the juxtaposition of paganism and Christianity.  While one moment we were walking through the temple of Zeus or Artemis, in the next we were captivated by the mosaic on the floor of one of three Christian basilicas.  This clearly demonstrates the evolution of this city from paganism to Christianity during the early centuries after Christ.  It would have been easy to be drawn into the uniqueness of this site from an archeological or historical perspective.  I think, however, there was an important spiritual lesson here for all of us who walked through these ruins.

Just as in Jerash there are, within our hearts, pagan temples next to Christian temples. In other words, we are all in need of continual conversion.  The spiritual life is one of constant attention to tearing down these false temples of self-interest and selfishness, and allowing the great temple of the Holy Spirit to be more and more glorious.  We will never be perfect this side of heaven but, with God's grace, those pagan temples will eventually fall into ruins.  The spiritual life is a journey, a gradual progression towards God.  And, in the end, we will dwell forever in the Lord's temple and He will dwell within the temple of our heart.