1 Kings7-8, Psalms 11: Do you remember a Christmas morning when you had worked so hard and gotten just the right gifts for people? You probably went to be Christmas Eve thinking, “I hope they like it!” You know you have done all you knew to do. The next morning you woke up to squeals and laughter as the people you loved opened their gift. Your heart swelled as they got on that bike and would not get off or put on that warm fuzzy robe and wore it all day. To see them inhabit and enjoy those gifts filled you with joy.
Can you imagine Solomon and the workers as God’s presence filled the temple.
1 Kings 8:10 “And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”
Our thoughts of Christmas morning are nothing compared with what it must have been like that day. When the very presence of God filled that Temple and the priests, the most holy men could not even stay within. Can’t you just see the smile and satisfaction on Solomon’s face.
Then Solomon responded by telling the people “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ”
Solomon did not just build a building. He built a place for God to dwell. His very presence filled it! We don’t have to build God a building. His presence no longer dwells within walls, but He has chosen to dwell within the hearts of people who will do as Solomon said, walk before God with all of their hearts. God’s covenant with us is that His Son Jesus would save us from their sin and guide us daily by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. We, like the Temple are filled with God by His Spirit! That is hard to comprehend at times, but it is true. God’s love for us is beyond compare and His desire to have a relationship with us bogles the mind. May we never take that for granted. May we celebrate God’s filling us with His Spirit!