Dwelling Places

 

My parents relocated to the U.S. when my sister and I were just infants, so we have no recollection of where they came from. While my mother's family moved to the U.S., no one from my father's side did. It wasn't until years later that my dad finally convinced some of his family to come from Ukraine. By that time, my siblings and I were already adolescents. The process took a while, and we couldn't wait for them to arrive. When they finally did come, my siblings and I were caught off guard. They were so different culturally—the clothing styles they wore, the way they spoke, the foods they liked to eat, and the way they did things felt strange to us. At first, they didn't quite like it here either; for a time, they wanted to go back. My parents chuckled and said, "You can take a man out of the village, but you can't take the village out of the man."

Eventually, after spending enough time here, their village ways began to change. They slowly started to adjust to American culture, and now they are quite different and very Americanized.

It's one thing to change your physical location from one place to another, but it's another to shift your mindset. Even though they relocated, mentally they were still stuck in their old village ways.

The Bible also speaks about people being mentally stuck in certain patterns of thought, which can be much more serious than merely relocating to another country. This is referred to in the Bible as "dwelling places."

The word "dwell" not only means to live in a place, but also to abide, to focus on something for an extended period often in a lifeless and negative way—such as lingering on negative thoughts or bad habits that are hard to let go of.

God makes a promise through the prophet Ezekiel that He will rescue His people from these negative mental dwelling places: "I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them" (Ezekiel 37:23).

When we intentionally dwell or abide in God's Word, we mentally relocate to God's dwelling place. If we stay long enough, just like my cousins, our mindsets will gradually begin to change and conform to His. However, we must continue to return and abide in His Word for this transformation to occur. This continual dwelling and abiding in His Word will eventually lead us to mentally relocate to the Lord's dwelling place, making it our permanent home.

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Psalm 27:4).

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places…" (John 14:2).