“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. And he made for the house windows with recessed frames. He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
“When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.” 1 Kings 6:1-7
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Many are the details recorded for Solomon’s construction of the temple: date, reference to history, exact measurements, design, and materials. He’d been called by God for this purpose and went about that charge carefully and anointed. If the temple were to be the place of meeting, sacrifice, and worship, it would be worthy of the One who inhabited it in all its detailed beauty and function. (1 Kings 1:29-30; 5:2-6)
Developing and maintaining our personal temples is a high and important call, the primary priority for all of life. It’s natural to get caught up in working and fixing other aspects of our physical entities and neglect the hidden sanctuary. Knowing us well, the Lord gives instruction and illustration to remind us of the one thing needful. When He is honored first, other details and efforts fall into place. To take care and intention in keeping up and on with our Christ-bought, God-owned sanctuary is to fulfill His purpose and bring Him glory. (Matthew 6:33; Luke 10:42)
The challenge for us is obedience and consistency. We must build His way. And to do that we must go about our constructions and worship according to His plan over our own, His prescriptions over personal preferences. (Judges 17:6; Romans 1:21-25)
This day, this date and moment, how deliberate are we in worship? How have we structured our schedules to hold our Lord, and then how carefully do we guard and use our time to keep His temple a priority? What props and distractions need we set aside so He fills all in all? (Ephesians 1:22-23)
Father, help me design and determine my days to honor Your temple and worship You as my highest joy.
As the rain and snow 