1 Kings 6:2-7

 2 The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. 3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. 5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6 The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

 7 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.

Wow what a site to see.  I bet that people wept when they saw the completion of this temple.  There was so much anticipation, time, sweat, and dedication poured into this project, I’m sure people dropped to their knees at the site of this massive building.

When I read this however, it wasn’t the glory of the temple that caught my attention.  It wasn’t the height or the width that took my breathe away.   It was the amazement that our spiritual temple should be modeled after this masterpiece.

In verse 7 we see that Solomon didn’t stop at having the finest materials or craftsmen to build, he went as far as to have each brick and stone specifically designed and cut before it even came to the construction site. 

Get that…before it even came to the construction site.

So what does this have to do with our Spirit?  Many times we come to read the Bible wanting the "raw materials".  We come to church hoping that we can get some cheap labor to help us put this thing together…this life in Christ…this spiritual temple.

But like Solomon we must take the precious time to do a little prep work.

Reading God’s word day and night - Going to Bible studies, and fellowship for accountability allow you to chisel out the rough edges so you can create the masterpiece that God intended you to be.  We must do these things even before we come to the construction site.

So the next time you get ready for church, ask yourself if you’ve done a little dressing of the stone.

Pastor Daniel