February 22, 2019 ● 19-14
Ex. 35:21: Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.
1 Chron. 22:2: So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.
Neh. 2:8: “And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.
1 Peter 2:4-5: And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
When we were living in Hawaii, my next door neighbor came over one day and told me of a pile of discarded wood on the Air Force base where we lived. He said the wood looked good enough to be used for building material if I needed any. I drove over and checked it out. Sure enough, there was enough discarded wood that I was able to build a play house for our girls. The play house was not much to look at, but it was sturdy and became a magnet for all the kids in the neighborhood. I built the playhouse four feet off the ground next to a eucalyptus tree in our backyard; even put a “Tarzan” rope off one side of the playhouse for them to swing off of. I looked out at our backyard one day and counted ten kids on the playhouse, and none of them were ours!
The Hebrews in the wilderness gave what they had for the construction of the Tabernacle. Although David was prohibited by God from building the temple, he gathered all the building materials needed for his son Solomon to built it. Nehemiah had been given letters by the king to provide wood to repair the walls of Jerusalem.
What kind of building materials are we giving God to build with? Peter wrote that we are, “living stones . . . being built up as a spiritual house.” While the Tabernacle, temple, and walls of Jerusalem were constructed of wood, woven materials, and precious metals, our “spiritual house” is being constructed with different materials – spiritual materials. If we give God attitude and disobedience He does not have much to work with. If we give God a willing heart and an enthusiasm to serve, He has much to work with. If we are spending time in God’s Word, time in prayer, and in allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us closer to God, then God has much building material to use in constructing us into the “spiritual house” that pleases Him.
I am a firm believer that every Christian should wear a t-shirt that simply says, “under construction.” This is true. Back in the day there was a song in the church kids used to sing entitled, “He’s still working on me.” We could change that to, “He’s still building me”.
What kind of material are you giving God to build your spiritual house? I want to encourage you to allow God’s Word to equip you to offer to God the best you have so He will have much to work with in building you up to a, “spiritual house for a holy priesthood.” Use the following Scripture references to help you understand how you can offer God your best material to use:
Rom. 12:1-2 / 2 Timothy 2:22 / Titus 2:11-15 / 2 Peter 1:5-11