Bible Passage: 1 Kings 5

“You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name…’”

These were the words that Solomon said to Hiram king of Tyre. David, his father, had already passed on, and now Solomon had taken his place as king. God had given him wisdom and his wisdom was renowned everywhere, using his wisdom to rule with an iron… mind.

And now, he and his kingdom were having a time of peace. Unlike his father, he was not being attacked from various sides. He wasn’t chasing anyone, and neither was anyone chasing him. He literally had all the time in the world to do anything he wanted. Probably, he could have explored the other places to broaden his mind even more, or perhaps to bask in his glory and riches, or even just “relac” one corner…

But he chose to start building the temple of God. He chose to spend that time, not for his own benefit, but for the glory of God.

Building Up The Temple In Peaceful Times…

Of course, we know that God told David that Solomon would be the one to build the temple of God (2 Samuel 7: 12-13). But nonetheless, Solomon still could understand why his father was never able to build it during his time. He knew that David had a rather restless life and he just did not have the time or the resources. And now that he was enjoying this peace in his life, Solomon knew that that would be the best time to build the house of God.

For us, when we are going through a difficult time in our lives, we will find ourselves quite busy trying to settle the problem and maintain ourselves. It is during these times when we would also find ourselves having less time and luxury to have spiritual nurture or even doing simple things like going to church or even just praying.

So when life has finally given us a Kit-Kat break for now, and we have all the time in the world (of course, minus the time spent sleeping, at work or at school), what do we spend that time on?

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with spending that time on leisurely activities and settle other outstanding matters, but do we think of spending that time to nurture ourselves spiritually? Do we spend that time to build up the temple of God?

Building Up The Temple Until The End…

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s

The Bible had taught us that our bodies are the holy temples of God that had been bought at a price.

We should not be defiling or tampering with our bodies, but we should be building up these temples or the glory of God.

But building up this temple of God cannot be done overnight. Like planning and constructing an entire building, building up our spirituality and faith is a process that takes much time and effort.

Solomon spent 7 years building the temple!

And in our busy lives, we have to try and make good use of every opportune time to do just that.

Because if we do not take hold of that time to building up our faith and we eventually come across some hardships again, would we be able to stand up to such sufferings again? Or even worse, what if we would never have such peaceful times again? Would we ever be able to find the time and luxury to build up on our faith?

This is something that we would have to work out for ourselves, and not expect others to remind us.

Because ultimately, if we fail to build up this temple of God, but defile it and leave it to be derelict and in shambles, would we be able to stand in the test of fire?

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are…

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience…

May we always be diligent in building ourselves, the holy temple of God, and strive to be take after the glorious image of Christ…

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