Editor’s Note: The AMI Devotionals from June 15-21 are provided by Doug Tritton of Symphony Church, Boston.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
1 Kings 7:1; 13-14: Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house. And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
Yesterday we talked about how Solomon, after finishing the construction of the Temple, began working on his own house and ended up spending more time building his house than building the Temple. However, Solomon may have finished building the temple, but he had not yet furnished it! That means the Temple sat idle for thirteen years, unused and unfurnished, until Solomon had completed construction of his personal house. We do not know the exact reasons Solomon had for delaying the furnishing of the Temple, but perhaps he just got distracted by the prospect of building a grand house for himself.
This story seems to show a lack of spiritual concentration and endurance on the part of Solomon. How true is this in my life! I have spiritual highs, from activities like retreats or mission trips, but then as time goes on, these highs wear off and I fall back into normal, self-centered living. I have made convictions but continue to be someone whose action centers on feeling and circumstance, rather than firm, unwavering beliefs and commitments. We often characterize our spiritual life as sine waves, going up and down, but is that how God wants us to live, tossed by circumstance or feeling?
I believe that our Christian life was meant to be one of constant striving, of constant endurance. As the author of Hebrews says, “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Our culture is one of fads and short-lived excitement, while endurance and focus seem a thing of the past. Let’s reflect together on the life of Jesus; He knew His purpose, and He lived His whole life focused on that purpose. He endured to the end. Let’s think through our own lives. How enduring is our faith? How focused are we on seeking the Kingdom of God? Or are we easily distracted by things around us?
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You persevered to the end for me. You took the cross, bore all the shame, and rose again so that I could have a relationship with You. You gave it all, yet somehow I so easily lose focus on You. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You knowing that You are the highest treasure. Give me endurance to run this race with true conviction and focus until I see You face to face.
Bible Reading for Today: Revelation 5-6
Finally, Solomon had finished building the Temple, the house for God. It took many years, many resources, and much labor, but it was finally finished. So what does Solomon do? He immediately turns to building his own house, which he works on for thirteen years. Did you catch that contrast? The passage says, “He was seven years in building it. Solomon was building his own house thirteen years.” He spent almost twice as long building his own house!
When I read this passage while writing this devotional, I thought about skipping it. I thought to myself, this does not really show grace. This passage seems to imply that we need to obey God before He comes to us, that we need to earn His presence. But as I reflected on this, I realized, that is certainly not the case.
When I come to these passages that detail the dimensions and specifications of a building or structure (such as the temple, tabernacle, or Noah’s ark), I often skim through them, thinking to myself that this is not important. I want to get to the stories—the commandments, the things that seem to actually matter to me.
As mentioned yesterday, Solomon sought to build a temple for God now that Israel finally was in a state of relative peace. In order to succeed in this task, Solomon needed help, so he asked Hiram, the king of neighboring Tyre. Hiram very willingly agreed to help in this task.
King David’s reign was far from peaceful and he certainly had little time to rest, being constantly harassed by his many enemies. Upon his death, David’s son Solomon inherited a kingdom that finally had attained a fair amount of peace. Yet, rather than just sitting back and relaxing in this time of ease, Solomon set to work building the temple, a task ordained by God.
What is challenging about this passage is that Solomon gave up leisure to focus on building the temple. How difficult that is! So often in my own life, when I find myself in a season of ease and peace, I turn immediately to distractions like Netflix or Hulu, binge-watching shows for hours on end, thinking that I am taking advantage of this extra free time. This is no different than the servant who buried his talent in the ground in the parable of the talents (see Matt. 25:14-30). Periods of ease are gifts from God for the sake of investing into His Kingdom.
The late pastor Adrian Rogers once told the story of a boy who was sitting under an oak tree, looking at a watermelon patch. He said, “You know, if I were God, I wouldn’t put those great big watermelons on those weak little vines, and those tiny little acorns on that big oak tree. That seems backwards to me.” A little while later, an acorn fell and hit him on the head, and suddenly he was glad it wasn’t a watermelon. How great is God’s wisdom even in this comical situation!
While the wisdom of God displayed through Solomon in this story is certainly one to behold, I thought it would be interesting to look at this story from another perspective. Indeed, God is just and in due time, justice will be given to His people, but behind it we also see an important lesson—the light that is shed on darkness.
Have you ever played the ice-breaker game “Desert Island’? In this game, you are trapped on a desert island and need to think of three things that you would want to bring to this island that you will be on for the rest of your life. In a sense, this shows what the desires of our heart truly are. In a way, God asks Solomon this question as well – What would you like me to give you?
As I was watching the movie Selma, I was struck by what a difficult position Martin Luther King Jr. must have been in as he pioneered the Civil Rights Movement. In the movie, many important decisions needed to be made, including the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In one scene during a peaceful march, he kneels down and prays, then makes a decision to turn back, despite pressure to move forward. What a difficult decision to make!