My Body, God’s Sanctuary

06/09/2026 — My Body, God’s Sanctuary
Today, I woke up doing my usual workout, 20 minutes a day (10 in the morning and 10 in the evening), after taking my medicine. I realized it has increased my stamina.
After the workout, I drink two containers of water, and have my bath, and then proceed to eat some eggs, kaukau, and a cup of tea.
Before heading to Joyce Bay for fellowship, I got a message from Pastor Dotoana and Pastor Sasae Rei that they won’t make it to church, and so it would be me only with the congregation.
Luckily, Ldr Paul and Ldr Max came too, so we managed to have fellowship.
Ldr Paul led praise and worship; Ldr Max took the communion service and prayed for the sick and the closing prayer, while I strummed the guitar and shared the sermon.
Since the pastors are not here, I took charge of the whole fellowship.
I counted there were 13 of us in today’s fellowship.
The Sermon: “Sanctuary”
I will now dwell a bit on the sermon I shared today. I shared on “Sanctuary.”
I introduced the word and told my congregation that the sanctuary has the root word “sanct,” which has multiple words in relation, such as sanctify, sanctity, and sanctum.
And I borrowed Merriam-Webster’s definition of sanctuary, which means a consecrated place, such as a temple (as in the OT Jews’ temple), or the most sacred part of a religious building or a church or a temple for worship.
My main scripture is based on Exodus 25:8, Psalms 26:8, Psalms 73:17, 1 Chronicles 22:19, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Hebrews 8:1-2, Revelation 21:22.
These past two weeks, I was reading through the book of Exodus, now at Chapter 30 after completing Genesis, and I was stuck on the part where Moses went up to the mountain, and God elaborately showed to Moses the design and prototype and architectural design or the archetype of what God showed him and to construct a similar replica on earth where he can come and dwell with them.
My mind was stuck on that word, sanctuary, for a while and was pondering on it.
My Body as God’s Sanctuary
To me personally, one of the most liberating Christian Truths that I embraced that has liberated me from fear of sin and death is that when I believed and was born again through the waters of Baptism, my body is now a sanctuary of the Most High, Holy God, who now dwells in me bodily, as scripture puts it.
I understand that my body is now the Lord’s temple, and I carry His presence wherever or whenever I go.
I related to stories or myths back in the village, where we have these places where they have restrictions because some spirits dwell there. And you would have some respect.
And so I tell them that since we become spirit-filled and indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, our bodies are now God’s sanctuary, and He dwells within each one of us, and we should treat our bodies as God’s sanctuary. It’s our duty to respect our bodies, keep it clean, keep it holy, keep it pure from all sin, and all unrighteous acts.
After sharing, we do our church programs, and when the fellowship ends, I come home.
An Afternoon Walk with Victor
Then my dearest brother, Victor, came to see me, and we spent around some time walking around HOX.
It was a long while, and we enjoyed the walk, discussion, and sharing ideas and thoughts on work, ministry, and other stuff.
Then we walked back; by then it was almost 6 PM, and he left home when his wife came to pick him up.
But the thought that remains strongest in my mind is this:
My body is God’s sanctuary.
If the presence of God once made a physical place sacred, then how much more sacred should I consider myself when His Spirit dwells within me?
That is both a privilege and a responsibility.

Bata Des