Years ago, one of my good friends led his young church to build an all-purpose room for worship. When I commended him, he explained, “The houses in our neighborhood are bigger than our new worship center.” I thought he was exaggerating until I went to preach at the dedication of the building. As I drove into the neighborhood, I saw palatial homes that had more square footage than many churches’ worship centers.
Solomon took seven years to build the temple, but thirteen to build his own palace. In fact, he built an identical palace for Pharaoh’s daughter, one of his many, many wives. This makes us ponder: are we doing more for God or for ourselves? Later, when the people of God returned to the land and rebuilt the temple, Haggai complained that the people lived in homes with ornate wood paneling, while the temple remained a ruin (Haggai 1:4).
After the temple was complete, Solomon took the silver and gold gifts and furnishings that David had set aside and placed them in the temple treasuries. He had kept his promise to his father, King David, and completed the dream. What do we treasure? Is it for ourselves or for God? Do we ever keep for ourselves things which we had promised to God?
The Pharaohs buried some of their gold in their tombs. They tried to take the wealth with them when they died. David, on the other hand, left his best treasures to be placed in the temple. Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure may be, there your heart will also be.”
