Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 Kings 6.
So Solomon built the
house and finished it (1 Kings 6:14).
We are continuing our study of 1 Kings, the first part of
which (1 Kings 1—11) concerns the reign of King Solomon, known for two things:
(1) his wisdom; and (2) building the temple.
Five of these first 11 chapters are devoted in part or whole
to the temple:
1 Kings 5: Preparation
1 Kings 6: Building
1 Kings 7: Furnishings
1 Kings 8: Dedication
1 Kings 9: Blessing
In 1 Kings 5, we saw Solomon’s preparation. The temple would
not just pop out of thin air, but he has to make the plans, procures the
materials, and provide for the labor to fulfill this goal.
Now, in 1 Kings 6 we see the fulfillment of those plans. If 1
Kings 5:5 is the key verse for the “preparation” chapter (“And , behold, I
purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God…”), then 1 Kings
6:14 is the key verse for the “building/fulfillment” chapter (“So Solomon built
the house and finished it.”).
We no longer have or need a physical temple, because Christ
is our temple and our once for all sacrifice. These chapters are then perhaps
most helpful in that they address the centrality of worship in the life of the
believers. Solomon knew that his most important duty in the sphere of influence
the Lord had given him as king was to lead his people rightly to worship the
Lord.
A spiritual lesson to be learned: We do not need
merely the desire or the plan to serve the Lord, but we need also the resolve
to see it through. This means we must finish what we start. We must persevere as
the Lord completes the good work he has begun in us (Phil 1:6).
In Luke 14 Christ taught his followers to count
the cost of discipleship. He compared the commitment to become a disciple to
being like a man who intended to build a tower and who first had to sit down
and count the cost “whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after
he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it
begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish”
(vv. 28-30).
May the Lord give us the grace to deny ourselves, take up our
cross daily, and follow him.
Grace and peace, Pastor
Jeff Riddle
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