“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father.”
— 1 Kings 6:12
The word of the Lord came to King Solomon immediately after the completion of the construction of the Temple of God. This was a seven-year project, and when the word of God came to Solomon, it came specifically concerning the Temple he had just built.
God instructed Solomon that with regards to the house he had built, he would need to walk in God’s statutes, execute His ordinances, keep all His commandments, and walk in them — and then God gave him the promise that He would carry out the word He had spoken to his father David.
Look to God, Not the Temple
What is particularly striking here is that when the word of the Lord came to Solomon, it was not tied exclusively to the Temple itself. One would think that because the Temple had been built, all would be well and everything would simply fall into place. But when God comes to speak to Solomon, He is not focused on the Temple as a structure. Instead, He points to the actual purpose of the Temple — the worship of God.
In other words, rather than directing Solomon to look at the Temple built with human hands, God directs him to look to God Himself.
There is a very real temptation in doing the things of God — whether through ministry, serving in the church, or serving people in other capacities — to look at what we have accomplished with our own hands and stop there. In doing so, we easily forget that the works we do are in service to our great King, our great God, our Savior and Lord. Even as we do these works, we are not to fix our eyes on our service, our accomplishments, or our Christian work. We are to always be redirected to look to God.
Keep His Commandments
One of the things God tells Solomon is that he must keep all His commandments. In the New Testament, we find that these commandments are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In 1 John 3:23 we read:
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
— 1 John 3:23
As believers, we must be very careful about the great works the Lord allows and grants us to do in His name. There is always a temptation to focus on the works themselves — on the great service we render to God — and to completely forget for whom we are doing them.
Reflecting On The Temple
As we reflect on Solomon’s Temple and the word of God that came to him, may we be reminded that we are always and above all servants of God — regardless of the wonderful works the Lord allows us to accomplish. We must always look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for our assurance, rather than looking to the works we have done. Because those works can very easily become rituals and idols, causing us to miss the entire point of why we do them.
Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
— 1 John 5:21
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