Sixteen Sojourning Servants

Today we are sixteen, sweaty, smelly sojourners in need of serious water!

I would say "information overload" would sum up the day! 

Our day started with a tour of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. After a short wait on the Plaza of the Western Wall, we toured through the Rabbinical Tunnel. These tunnels run underneath the Old City and date back to Jesus day. We can touch portions of the wall built by Solomon. Since our last visit in 2011, much has changed as they continue to excavate and uncover more history every day.

We came out of the tunnels on the other side of the city, so we stopped in at Saint Anne Church to listen to Stephanie sing for us. The acoustics are the best! We walk around the Pool of Bethesda. This is where the man laid for 38 years trying to get into the healing water until Jesus came to heal him. (John 5:2)

Our brains were filled with so much history before lunch; we decided to take a little information break and go shopping!! After a 30 minute delay at The Lion's Gate, we headed over to a Christian Olive wood store a few blocks away.  The owner of the store bought us pizza for lunch, so we drove up to the Mount of Olives to eat and have a quick camel ride.

We then drove down to Bethlehem Ephratah to a Shepherds field. New evidence shows this as the most likely place of Jesus birth. While we were here, we could a baby cry from a home nearby. A few children followed us with their donkey and a baby lamb.

We then had a crash course in Israeli archeology from prehistory to Jesus at the Jerusalem museum. Here we saw a scale model of old Jerusalem in the 2nd temple period. It was gigantic, and the detail was impressive. We then went through the Shrine of the book where portions of the Dead Sea scroll are kept.

One thing that stood out in our touring today was how many religions  (some Christian included), are tied to a certain place or time of day, or day of the week.  Many worship on these days or at certain events or holiday’s only, and the rest of the week, the rest of their lives, hey never give it thought.

Yet, we know that, we are now the Temple of Holy Spirit. God lives in those who choose to believe that Jesus is the Christ who came to take away the sin of the world. Our worship should be continual. We need to keeping asking ourselves "How’s my behavior? Am I on auto pilot just going through the motions, or do I worship God in everything I do?" This is why it's important to continue to study the Word of God, to show yourself approved, rightly interpreting the scripture, and when the scripture doesn't seem to agree or make sense, just keep digging because the answers are always there!