Imagine being tasked with building the temple of the God of Israel. I would think the pressure on your shoulders would be great, just as an actor or an athlete feels the pressure of the biggest moments. Yet in this case, the person tasked with it was not alone. King Solomon, known in secular culture for his wisdom and proverbs, was the one God entrusted the construction of his temple. But before he was King Solomon, he was just Solomon, David’s Son.
David is one of the characters in the Bible we learn a lot about because we receive his story from beginning to end, with all his strengths, stories, flaws and mistakes. And near the end of his life, as he begins to hand over the kingdom to his son, he shares the following with Solomon:
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and a with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” (1 Chronicles 28:9-10)
While of course this advice is directed at the upcoming project of building a temple, it is such worthy advice for all of us. Any father talking to his son or mother sharing with her daughter could say the same and it would be just as powerful. What is life without wholehearted devotion to the Lord? What is life without doing the work that God has entrusted you?
Just as in the parable of talents, we are all given a different starting point. Some of us are given little, others of us are given something as important as God’s temple plans. But it doesn’t matter where we start – it matters what we do with it. Just as David shares with his son, we must be strong and do the work.
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