I Kings 6:12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them: then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father
Have you ever been abroad and seen ancient structures that speak of something greater than the day and the hour. Have you ever been to the Great Wall of China? Have you been to the Great Pyramids of Egypt? Have you been to Machu Pichu? These are all ancient structures that exist even today. Have you ever been to Solomon’s temple? Solomon’s temple was one of the wonders of the world and would have been on a list like the other structures I’ve named, but Solomon’s temple is in ruins.
Solomon’s temple was an amazing structure. Though we call it Solomon’s Temple and throughout I Kings 6 we read phrases that tell us Solomon built or did this or that, obviously Solomon didn’t do any of this himself. He was the energy, will, and mind behind it, but there were a lot of people who had been involved. Any job bigger than self has to involve more than oneself. Just today I was talking to a seven or eight people on staff about what was going on today, and asked one who is in charge of a project, “Hey, did you get to thus and so yesterday?” He replied, “Yes, I did.” Three or four other guys just laughed and I said, “Well, I didn’t mean did you personally do it, but are we getting the job done?” That was the point. Solomon’s temple really involved a lot more people than just Solomon.
Building Solomon’s Temple was a case where they measured twice and cut once. The massive stones from which this temple was built were precut so once they got to the worksite there was no noise of metal on stone, no cutting. All the pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Solomon’s Temple was largely built of stone. Stone is one of those things that will last forever. If you build with brick or some other casserole of natural elements, it will naturally erode, but if you look at places that have stood the test of time, generally they are made of things that were around long before the structure was put together. Stones are not being made today, so we use stones that have weathered the ages and will probably weather for some time to come in structures.
Solomon’s Temple was an amazing building, but what was even more important was that Solomon was to build a relationship with God Himself. Verses 11-12 say, “And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgements, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father.” This is one of the many if/then propositions in the Bible. God says, “If you will do this, then I will do that.” God was more interested in the people building the temple than the temple itself inasmuch as what God was after was a relationship. That is what God is after today as well.
What are you building today? Maybe you are building a career, a name, a family, a church, a ministry. None of those are bad, but the temple you build is worthless if you forget why. If Solomon built this magnificent structure, but forgot the God for whom the structure was made, then the structure was worthless.
First, if you have a temporary purpose for what you are doing right now, you have temporary worth. Your job should be more than just a job. If all you are doing is working to make money, that is not an end worthy of life. It might be a way to bankroll yourself so you can do things that are eternal or it may provide for your family. Those are quite significant, but we need to ask ourselves, “Am I merely building for the sake of money, my name, or some temporal, temporary need?” It doesn’t mean these things are evil, but they can’t last. If you have temporary reasons, you have temporary worth, and the temple is worthless if you forget why you are building it.
Second, if you abandon the purpose, you betray the building, the builders, and architect, God Himself. Maybe you are involved in church work, or maybe you work a nine-to-five job but are involved in the work of God as part of your local church. That is great, but if you ever forget why you are helping in the nursery, cooking for the potluck, or serving as deacon or pastor, then you have betrayed the building, what is going on; the builders, partners with you in this endeavor; and most of all you have betrayed the architect, God Himself. The temple you build is worthless if you forget why you are building it.
Not far from my home there is a beautiful old church over one hundred years old that was once pastored by a godly man and gifted writer. I eagerly went to see this church, but to my surprise they had never heard of this pastor or his books. I was keenly disappointed. It has happened more than once that I heard about someone God greatly used, then met the people who steward the structures that person left behind who don’t even know of the person or, more importantly, the God the person knew.
I don’t know about the people in the church I visited. Hopefully they are serving the Lord. I will say that the church is part of a denomination that has largely abandoned God and no longer has a gospel to give. That is tragic. The work that godly pastor did will last forever, but not the building he built. The building is valuable only to the extent that it is built for God. That pastor no longer has charge of that building, but no one can take from him the work he did while he was on the earth that is reaping wonderful blessings even today.
So, what are you doing? What are you building? How are you expending your energies? The temple you build is worthless if you forget why.