Your Daily Blessing » Blog Archive » The Feast of Dedication

The Feast of Dedication

22 December 2006 No Comment

If you are born again, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Have you dedicated your temple (body) to the LORD?
If not, what are you waiting for?

After preparing the devotional two days ago about rededicating America to Jesus, I suddenly realized that the Holy Spirit had prompted me to do this during Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication.

One of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith is the menorah, a branched candelabrum used in the Temple. It has been said that the menorah is a symbol of the nation of Israel and its mission to be “a light unto the nations.” (Isaiah 42:6).

Tonight, Jewish people around the world, light the eight and final light on their Chanukah (Hanukkah) menorah. Chanukah is the Hebrew word for dedication. This past week I had the privilege to learn much more about Hanukkah while posing daily e-prayer devotionals for Jeff Bernstein on behalf of Gates of Zion.

As mentioned in the devotional on December 15, Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated on eight successive days beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine.

What was dedicated on the Feast of Dedication was the altar of the temple in Jerusalem which was defiled by the Hellenists. Just as the altar of the temple was dedicated to the Lord on the 25th of Kislev, we also should dedicate our temples to the Lord.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Prayer Power
LORD, give us the grace to see that our bodies are your temple in the light of the New Covenant. Help us to realize that we are not our own. Give us the grace to be diligent to live fully for you. In Yeshua’s name. Amen.

Link of the Day
Menorah [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/menorah.html]

Blessings to dedicate your temple (body) to the LORD!

Joseph

Joseph's story Joseph Peck, M.D.
“Blessed to be a blessing”
Dr. Breakthrough, THE CONNECTOR, and The Journal Guy
Founder and Executive Director of Webinars777
Breakthrough Life Coach helping your DREAMS come true
Creative Marketing and Communication Specialist