The Roof Over Your Head

The Roof Over Your Head

1/28/17

Many of us have heard this phrase being used in various ways and when we hear it always refers to our house and the covering that we usually take for granted.  A roof is a provision which stands for covering and the top which keeps the elements from falling directly on our lives.  God’s Word provides us with a perfect example of this covering and just like the physical a covering that many of us take for granted and one that we ignore on a constant basis.  Until we return to this covering our existence in the world’s perils shall rise and present horrific challenges that can be skipped.  If we return to God and His Ways and live completely under this roof our lives shall be full of joy and happiness as the world continues to follow its path of destruction.

When I was growing up I lived in many houses due to the profession of being a pastor’s kid.  While moving had some disadvantages, the majority of my growing up life has great memories and some of these great memories came in the form of the houses which we lived.  I never had a lack of a roof over my head even when I lived in a town where danger literally surrounded my every move.  I never was cold at night and unless I was camping with the church kids group I never had the opportunity to have raindrops land on my head.  I guess I could say that I am one of the lucky ones who grew up not knowing homelessness or lacking a proper house and I am so grateful for that even though I never really gave thanks to God and to my parents for this basic covering.  Even with this little bit of new information, the appreciation of what my parents did and still continue to do today thrills me beyond belief and I want both of them to know that I love them and that I am so proud of them for not only providing for me all those years but also showing me the truth about God’s Word every day of my life.

This morning I was reading one of my overdue library books about the Medieval Church world and as I was reading I also had one of my distractions up on the computer, a social website.  A movement on the screen caught my peripheral eye and I turned my head and saw a picture of a house, more specifically a roof of a house and it was at this point where God gave me the message of this article.  I did not hesitate one bit and began to jot down the words that He gave me and immediately began to open the program on which I write.  As I sat there staring at this picture of a simple roof, I could not believe that I had missed this concept all this time but for whatever reason God kept this message title and subject until this moment for a reason; however, to be honest, right at this moment I cannot even remember seeing another reference of this obscure page on this website before.  It is a beautiful message and one that once again proves that the Word of God is current, living in the present and specific for each one of our lives.

Building items is not an uncommon theme in the Bible for its references start in Genesis and mentioned all the way to the end of Revelation so one must believe that building items and more specifically a house is of a vital importance.  Of course, the Bible days did not have all of the modern technological advantages that we do today, but the concept of a covering over a place of residence was already in place during those times.  Stop and think about it for a moment, why would anyone build a flood underneath them and walls around them but have no covering from the things that could fall from above them?  It is a concept most simple yet when one sees pictures of old church buildings, houses, and stores it is the roof that is missing while the walls and flooring are the objects still present.  Even in the ancient deserts of the Middle East, it is the walls of the stone buildings and fortresses that remain, the roofs are gone.  Could this be a sign of how important it is for humans to have a sound roof over their heads and what occurs if one does not uphold its integrity?

In Genesis, we have the beginnings of how marriages in Jewish life unfolded.  It was a specific process which placed covenant at the forefront of the process and which required the male involved to build an adequate house for the bride to be.  The house had to be completely finished and inspected by the father of the bride and approved before the marriage was allowed to finalize.  Many other aspects of the wedding vows had to be completed during this time but if the house was not properly made, no wedding would take place until such a time of adequate house conditions.  Even back in those days a roof was an important part of the completion of this process and necessary in order for the couple to be married.  This process continues today for a contractor, landowner, or any other development company or bank cannot say that a house is ready until all inspections have been completed and approved.  Since a marriage is imminent in our family, this concept and truth cannot be of greater importance because when God is at the center of such a building nothing can stand against it.

When Jesus walked the earth, houses were present along with many other types of buildings that proudly bore elaborate rooftops.  We still have some examples of these buildings that stand today and serve proof that an adequate roof is part of the successful building project.  So, why would God leave out this portion of our eternal completeness?  How could He warrant our lives special if He did to provide such a vital piece of our Creation?  He did even from the beginning God has provided His children with every aspect of safety that we need but it has always been our choice to either live under this protection or not and as we study His Word we have plenty opportunities to learn about what occurs in our lives when we do not choose His Ways.

The covering began in the Garden of Eden and then increased when God made an eternal Covenant with mankind, another example of being separated from this world and living under the protection of God at all times.  Israel missed the importance of this truth and while they understood its meaning and ways they never fully understood its eternal and spiritual guidance that are needed to incorporate God’s full protection and covering.  That is ok, for today we are still following in their footsteps because we have lost sight of how important it is that we live under the roof of God’s protection as well.  Just as the children of Israel did so long ago, we have chosen not even to live in the house that God has built for us and instead chose to live in a cardboard shanty that we call “home”.  What is so sad is that while we are lying in our shanties, we look out and see the real buildings that God has provided for us and scream and shake our fists at them, a human trait that I find most intriguing.

I have heard people say that they struggle with some of the truths that are in the Bible and how they do not pertain to them today.  God’s Word is all about you and I and how God has provided a way for us to be separated from this world.  Some of these processes that we study can be kind of harsh and unrealistic at first glance but when studied those aspects can be applied to our lives so that we may avoid those consequences and live differently according to what history reveals.  God does not do anything without a purpose, He cannot for if He did He would not be able to consider Himself an able God, but only an idol god.  Each spiritual second of God’s eternal existence has had a direct purpose of fulfillment and He shall never change this truth.  This means that His Word serves us as a guide about how He shall protect us and how important it is for us to heed His housing ways and the reasons as to why He has these specifics.

The roof is the most important aspect of the house of covering for it covers the occupants’ heads from the incoming elements and from the enemy’s lobbing objects.  The roof that God built also serves as the living cover that He ordained as the final step in having a completed house for His children.  Because of our limited scope and finite minds, there is no way possible that we could ever construct any facility that would be worthy of living in God’s eyes and heart.  That is why it makes perfect sense that the final covering would come from both God and the human to serve as the roof covering of completion.  This also proves that God has only one way to Him and that there can be no other way to complete the house in which He provided for our protection and separation.

In the Old Testament, we have many mentions of one who would come and save the world and provide a covering so that we may have access to God once again.  In the Gospels of the New Testament, we have God’s Son who walked the earth and had a tremendous ministry while His days commenced.  We also have in these letters the truth about how He was betrayed and sent to be slain according to the requests of mankind, but what is missed by many is that it was through this act that when His blood was shed He completed the roof of the house of protection and separation that is required by God.  It is the blood of Christ that covers us and allows God’s eyes to see nothing but perfection even though we do not possess one ounce of such element in our lives.  This truth is an act of living faith that we hold in our hearts as the ultimate source of eternal life and choose to live under at all times.

In the epistles of the New Testament, we find that humanity and our reasoning of interpretation had come into play and it is through these letters we see that the authors are dealing with the  Church and trying to subdue the interpretations that the people chose to accept instead of the truth about God.  While I find it very interesting to see people trying to interpret the covering of Jesus’ blood, what I find more concerning is that they fail to realize that they cannot complete such activity but only voluntarily move out from under that protection through such actions.  The path to God has been completed and the roof of covering was perfectly provided by God which cannot be changed or altered.  The roof that God has provided is simple, true, pure and holy in all ways and serves to finalize our separation from the world according to God and His eyes.  The completeness of the Word of God continues with this magnificent fact and gives those who doubt another piece of truth (completeness) that they can rely on when times become hard.  This aspect and truth should also embolden the Church to proclaim the witness of God to mankind and solidify how important God’s provisions are for our existence.  It is not for us to change the settings of this truth and if we try to change such truth the only result that we can expect will be a disaster. 

It is vital that we understand that the reason why God has completed this living space for our lives is that there is an eternal war that is raging for our existence.  The enemy sees his opportunity when he notices that we are peering out from underneath our protection.  His enticements conceal his true meaning and when we expose ourselves enough and for long enough, he shall strike with a convincing blow that can eternally damn us with his type of separation instead of God’s type.  The most defenseless position a person in combat can have is from above for we cannot stop any incoming projectiles unless we have an adequate roof of protection overhead.  The walls of our house and the foundation under our feet along with the protective headgear of the Armor of God is of the most importance, but unless we continually have the blood of Christ covering our lives our defense shall be flawed and we will succumb to the enemy sure as shooting.

This is why it is so important to have the entire Armor of God on and in our lives.  And most important that we claim the blood of Christ for what it represents and not what we can make it according to our wants.  The blood of Christ completes the roof that is over our head and serves as the key in God’s eyes to His holiness in our lives.  We can no longer afford to believe that we understand everything there is to know about the blood of Christ.  We must study its divine covering in its everlasting and living capacity for when we understand that Jesus’ blood is alive we will understand that we do not need to have preventative maintenance on it for it is constant and adequate at all times, ever since its Creation and establishment by God.

Church stop trying to accommodate the world by using the blood of Christ as a catch-all covering, this is not what why Jesus died for our sins.  Jesus died to serve as the final protection to separate us from the world and not to join its earthly societal admissions.  When we allow Jesus’ blood to cover us it provides the ultimate covering that we need in order for God to know that our hearts are still under His authority.  When God sees our sin first that means we have stepped out from under His house and when more hearts are out from under the blood roof covering, God also understands who our hearts trust and believe.  It is time for us to return to the blood covering without hesitation and interpretations.  Submit our lives completely to God and lose all selfish wants from His Word and God has promised to heal our land when we have His son’s blood over our heads.  In the end, no matter how we look at what God has provided, it is always about the cross.

DLB