Sunday, September 20, 2009

Today's Passage: 1 Kings 5-6

Friendship is a gift from God. We see here in chapter 5 that the friend of David, Hiram, continued to be a faithful friend to Solomon. This gift is preceded by the gift of wisdom that Solomon had asked God for in a previous chapter. It was in this wisdom that Solomon sent word to Hiram in the first place. It was also by this wisdom that Solomon knew what to request from Hiram and how to plan the construction of the temple.

I think we all agree that there is a sense of awe when we look at the detail and extravagance of the plans for the temple in chapter 6. The temple exemplified the strength and beauty of the glory of God. The strength was shown in the cedar and olive wood with which it was built. The beauty was captured in that everything was overlaid with gold.

1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Have we built our temple with the strength of cedar and olive wood? Have we overlaid everything with gold so that the beauty and glory of God will shine through? What lengths do we go to build the temple? What detail do we go to in caring for the temple? All too often we use the cheap wallpaper and furnishings of entertainment and other things that promise to make our life better, easier, and stress-free. The cedar and olive wood we need to build with is the very Word of God! The priceless gold that must overlay everything in us is the intimacy with Jesus that comes through prayer and private worship! Too many times we leave our "worship quotient" to the services we attend during the week. There is so much more to be experienced in the private, secret place! Oh, and that's where Jesus pursues us and every bit of us that wants to hide from Him. An old hymn says, "Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me..." Do you hear Him? He is calling you even now, "O sinner, come home!"