Day 160

1 Kings 5:1–6:38; Acts 7:1-29; Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 16:28-30

IN OUR READING from 1 Kings, we witnessed one of Solomon’s crowning achievements: the construction of the Temple of God. This was no small feat. It took seven years to complete and became the physical representation of God’s presence among His people, as well as the foundation of Israel’s identity.

We now know Solomon’s time as the First Temple period (one of the different eras of ancient Israel). Jesus lived during the time of (and visited) what we know as the Second Temple, or Herodian Temple, and before we finish the books of Kings, we’ll begin to understand why the Temple of Jesus’ day was the second one.

Yesterday in the book of Acts, we saw the establishment of a group of people consecrated to serve the needs of the believers. These people were known as deacons, and one of them was named Stephen. Although he was a godly man, Stephen was arrested for allegedly profaning Moses’ teachings and blaspheming God. Today we began to hear Stephen’s testimony, and it should sound familiar —Stephen began to recite the origin story of the Hebrew people.

His intention in retelling the story was to prove that he was a person who knew his heritage and that he in no way desired to abolish Moses’ teachings or commit blasphemy. But his testimony offers us a wonderful opportunity to review where we’ve been thus far in the Bible this year. Over the next few days, we’ll enjoy recalling those stories, and then we’ll experience the outcome of Stephen’s witness.

Psalm 127 serves as a solid reminder of what it means to devote one’s life to the work of the Lord:

Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

Too often, we live our lives at a frantic pace, with a nagging pit in our stomachs that we’re doing nothing but falling further behind. If this sounds familiar, our reading from Psalms is worth committing to memory. If God is not included in —and in fact guiding —what we’re doing, we are driving ourselves in ways that will prove pointless and ineffective. It does not matter what we set our hands to do; unless the Lord is at the foundation of our plans and motivations, our labor is useless. Conversely, if we are collaborating with God in our lives, nothing will be wasted, and we will have rest.

MEDITATION:

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.