Good Ol' Solomon

This morning in my time with God, I was hit with something that I think is going to be revolutionary in my life.  At least, I hope it will be.

I don't usually share what I'm learning on here because - well - most of the things God is teaching me seems to be specifically for me.  Or they're too personal to put "out there".  Or I want to and never get around to it.

Anyway, I hope that what I'm about to share makes sense and that you might be encouraged by it.  Mostly, I just want this moment's idea to be ingrained in my brain and my heart.  If you're still reading this rambling, come join me on a trip to King Solomon's time - - - - - and wear your seat belts because it's quite a journey!

I have been reading through the 1's and 2's for a while now - you know, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, etc.  This morning I read in 1 Kings about Solomon building the temple for God.  Finally, after how many years, God's temple became a reality!  I've read this passage of Scripture before but always skipped over it because it gets kind of repetitive with measurements of cubits.  I am not a numbers sort of girl when it's measurements I understand let alone something of a cubit!

What I got out of reading through these couple of chapters is how absolutely beautiful Solomon built the temple.  Gold covered pretty much everything.  Pure, refined gold.  The details were exquisite.  I think of how God's presence dwelt there and then how He came and lived next to us, still perfect in a messy world.  He set aside His full glory for a time to be the Messiah we all needed - and many still need today.  He was Immanuel - God with us.

Now, for those of us who believe in Christ and have accepted Him as our Lord, He dwells within us.  God lives in me - one of the messiest of people, whose sin nature makes this world a messy place to be.  As thankful as I am that this is true, I am quick to forget that He hasn't set aside His glory this time - His Spirit is in His fullness in me!  How quick I am to cover Him up with my pride and insecurities.  I wrote these things in my journal - - - forgive me if they're not the most eloquent.  Here are two ideas going through this crazy brain:

1)  If I am now God's temple, I should be paying very close attention and detail to how I'm "decorating" His courts.  Are they filled with disbelief, mistrust and insecurity?  If so, I need to put them in the fire and refine them until they're as pure as gold!
2)  I think there's a fine line in being the weaklings that we are.  What I mean is, there's a glorious beauty in the God of the universe wanting to live in us but I think we far too often stop there and don't move forward in that.  While we don't need to dress ourselves up for Him to love us, we do owe Him a place of honor.

All of this to say that I know I get comfy in my weaknesses and end up using them as excuses to not be bold and to live with the power of Christ in me.  I end up squelching His power and His glory because it's scary to me.  This is why I struggle to move forward in faith sometimes.  I don't embrace what He has to offer fully and completely!

I prayed this morning that this insight into this passage would be life changing for me; that I will tear down my messy walls and begin to cover them in gold.  I know it will take a long time - it took Solomon 7 years working with materials that didn't have a sin nature and baggage!  The work is worth it though.  I want to give God a glorious temple to live in.

2 comments:

Emily said...

Beautiful Megs! You have such a gift for this stuff and I always enjoy when you write about what you're learning through your study of God's Word! :)

Chris said...

Excellent insight, Megan. You have your Mom's 'gift' of expression and write very clearly so that all can truly see your lovely 'heart'. God will use the seeds He plants through you to grow something good in us all! God Bless You & your family now and always.

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