“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
How often do we hear or read this scripture? How often do you think about the fact that God owns you? But, do you ever think about the fact that God occupies you as well? What does it mean to own or occupy?
Own has a general meaning “to have legal title to”. The word “own” also means, “To possess as property”. Occupy means to reside in as an owner or tenant, to fill up, to take possession of. I see a trend here. How about you?
When we believe in the finished work of Christ and accept Jesus into our lives as savior and Lord, at that moment He fills us with his Spirit. At that moment, He takes ownership of us because He has legally paid the price for the property known as you. He now occupies you as the owner of your body. However, we tend to treat Him as a tenant rather than the owner. A tenant with no authority over the property called “you”.
A tenant has temporary possession of the property of another. A tenant rents or leases from a landlord. Oh my! We act as if we are in charge, when life is good. We take the credit for the blessings of God. But Lord, don’t let life get out of hand. We call on the Lord, we are ready to yield to Him and “let thy will be done oh Lord in my life”. We treat the Holy Spirit/Jesus like a tenant, one who has no control over the use of the property. Jesus has temporary possession of my property while life is good and fruitful. Wow! We pretend He is leading and guiding us when in fact our flesh is making the decisions. We Treat the Holy Spirit like a renter and not the owner.
Whether we believe it or not, whether we experience salvation or not, God is the owner of the property called you. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27) So, we are God’s creation. We belong to him we did not make ourselves. How sad it is when a contractor builds himself a house, but is never able to live in the house. However, once we accept Christ then God by his Holy Spirit takes possession of the creation and He resides in us as the owner.
Sometimes renters of another’s property will not properly take care of it. They do not keep it clean, they trash the place when they move, and they disregard the rules and regulations of renting or leasing a property. In short, they act as if the property belongs to them. They treat it however they feel like. In such cases the property management will issue the tenant a notice to vacate the property. Unlike the natural property owner, God does not issue us a notice to vacate and we do not have the ability to issue Him a notice to vacate. God does not leave the property, nor does he leave us to our own devices. He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) He will continue to work with us, to get us in a place of realizing that the property we are trashing belongs to Him. He alone is able to clean us up and make us beautiful again. Praise God!
So remember, Christian, God not only owns you, he occupies you. Only when you yield your body to the owner who occupies the property called you, will you experience the overcoming life that is in Christ Jesus. Our joy comes from “Jesus Occupying You” as well as following all the rules and regulations of the occupant/owner.
Jesus Occupies You,
Pastor Rosita
