Today’s scripture: 1 Kings 5:1-5, 13-16; 6:1-38 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Ben Lamb):
One day as a child, I went to the back yard to pick some flowers (and no doubt, some grass and a few weeds) and proceeded to tie them together with string, tape and ribbon. I proudly presented them to Mom as a corsage.
She smiled without hesitation and took it, complimenting me all the while. I happily went outside once again to play. Later in the day, I noticed the flowers were not in the same spot as where she had placed them; I asked her why. She said she’d pinned them on her dress and had worn them to the grocery store. When the lady at the check-out saw them, she’d asked Mom if her daughter had made it. “No, but my son did,” was Mom’s reply. [Aside: apparently we begin our stereotyping early on in a child’s life…]
The point is this: I used materials I could obtain, and the sweat of my brow in order to craft an object intended to please someone very important to me. I did the very best I could do and made it as beautiful as I was capable of doing. No doubt, the one for whom I made it could have done a far superior job without any help from me. But, my sincere and genuine effort brought pleasure and joy to the heart of the intended one anyway.
Reading the description of the Temple makes any other building on planet Earth sound rather bland. Just polishing the gold must have been a full-time job!
While trying to conjure up images of what Solomon’s Temple might have looked like, it soon became impossible to fully comprehend how it must have appeared in person 3,000 years ago. If I did the addition correctly, there were 183,300 workers on the project for the duration of those 7 years; what a lot of time!
I believe my ratty little pile of flowers, weeds, and grass has a lot in common with Solomon’s Temple. Please re-read paragraph #3, with a bit of substituting. Exchange references to myself with references to Solomon; and exchanges references to my mom with references to God.
Thought for the day: Thank you God, for looking upon our sincere efforts to give you honor and glory as a beautiful gift!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.