“The Temple tour of Worship”, through the gates entering in the outer courts, the Holy Place and into the Most Holy Place. In Psalms 100:4 David wrote, “Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, go into His courts with Praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name”.
In Psalms 95:2, Let us come (through the gates) to Him with Thanksgiving, let us sing Psalms (in the courts) of Praise to Him. Verse 6, Come let us (enter the Most Holy Place) Worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for He is our God.
First, we must enter through the gates of Thanksgiving and give Him the thanks He deserves, for Ephesians 5:20-21, “giving thanks always FOR all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God”; Thessalonians 5:18 says, “IN everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father THROUGH Him”. Therefore, we are to give Him Thanks FOR, IN, and THROUGH EVERYTHING! First, we prepare our hearts with gifts of Thanksgiving to bringing the sacrificial offering of thanks to Him at the Brazen Altar and the cleansing at the Sea (Bronze Basin).
For “If we confess our sins, God will forgive and cleanse us” (1 John 1:9). So many times, we go to God with our needs, wants, desires, cares, and concerns and never enter through the gate of Thanksgiving. We are still outside trying to do this on our own, hoping God will somehow do what we want; thus, we sit outside day after day pleading with God like the crippled beggar in Acts 3:1-11; thus, “the gates of thanks” lead into the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there, so why are we just sitting and waiting outside the gates and not entering in? He said for us to enter the gates with Thanksgiving., so obey.
When I was a child, we would go to my Grandparents’ home and my Grandparents would be standing at the door, knowing we would be arriving soon. They were excited to see us, and they were ready at the gate to welcome and give us hugs and kisses. Is this not like the Father to fling wide the gate and welcome us into His presence. Go in the Gatekeeper is waiting. Let us go on the tour, stop talking about the things inside and let us go see what God has instore for us.
Chaplain Tim Nabors (part 1)
