Building The Temple

1 Kings 6:7 reveals an important detail about the construction of the temple Solomon built and dedicated to the Lord: In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. It was to be a holy place, and not to be spoiled even by the sound of hammers and chisels as it was constructed. The stones were prepared far away and brought to the temple to be put into place.

God calls us before Him to worship, but we cannot approach Him in any fashion we choose. Worship that is half-hearted is not worship at all. We can’t enter church on Sunday wishing we were elsewhere, just waiting until we are excused and are able to go out and get our “real” Sunday started. We can’t approach the Lord’s Day with hearts that are bitter because God is taking up so much of our precious time on the weekend. Our hearts must be prepared to properly worship our loving God.

The work of preparing doesn’t begin once we get to church; the preparations must begin “the quarry”- in our homes. True worship comes in setting aside that time for the purpose of humbling ourselves before God, for gathering as the body of Christ in joy and love. It comes in preparing our hearts to be moved by the Word and to do what we can to move others by the way we share with them in the Word. The sounds of the hammers and chisels and iron tools must be heard in the way we live all week long. The blocks must be made ready for use in building upon their arrival at the temple site.