The temple was seen as a place of meeting, and in fact the tabernacle, of which the temple was a solid version, was often referred to as ‘the tent of meeting’. It was the place where God met with his people. Obviously, God operated outside of the temple, but the temple was intended to be a symbol of meeting. Its sacrifices were used to portray how it was possible for a sinful human being to meet with the holy God. I would encourage you to build a temple in your life. I mean this metaphorically. In other words, build into your life a ‘meeting place’ with God. To do this you need to clear space just as Solomon had to clear space in Jerusalem. It will take hard work to build this temple and it may take a long time. You must work to build up your desire for God, to build in faith and to overlay it with the truth of God’s Word. You will need to discipline your mind and sometimes your body to get out of bed earlier in the morning or to step out at night depending on where in your day you intend to build your meeting place. Building a temple in your life is building space in your schedule; it is building into your mind the discipline to be still. It is building up a willingness to surrender your life and a determination to live on God’s agenda. It is developing dependence on God as a habit of life. These are the materials required for building a temple. Build it and God will inhabit it.
Ask God to help you to build a stronger relationship with him.
Read 1 Kings 5
