Building A House

My husband and I bought a new block of land earlier this year…  However it is our foster-daughter who has taken most interest in our potential building and has quickly moved from an ‘if we build’ to a ‘when we build’!

1 Kings 6.1-18

Reference:  v.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. (NIV Bible)

Explore:  My husband and I bought a new block of land earlier this year.  We are still not sure whether we will build a house on it at this stage or sell the block further down the track.  However having the block there has certainly sparked a few ‘house conversations’ between us and our 15 year-old foster daughter.  I am by no means an interior or exterior designer so I try not to enter into these discussions but it is challenging when the ideas are being thrown at you 100 miles an hour.  I thought this was going to be a struggle between my husband and I because, even after we’d both agreed that we would wait two years before looking at building, he immediately started talking about pools and roof angles and display homes!!  However it is our daughter who has taken most interest in our potential building and has quickly moved from an ‘if’ to a ‘when’!  “When we build, we should have a spa outside”, “When we build, we should have a room that looks really cosy”, “When we build, I’m going to have a bedroom with a slanted roof”…  Let’s just say that she has even put a few ideas to paper, so that we fully understand her design!  I think this house idea might actually send me insane!!
When King David was on the throne he started making preparations for building the Temple of the Lord.  However he was told that it would be his son who ended up building the temple.  And rightly so, we read here that Solomon has begun to build the temple.  The amount of detail we receive in these passages is quite amazing.  I don’t have a vivid enough imagination to put it all together but I know other people have and they’ve made drawings and models to help simpletons like me understand.

Application:  A dwelling place is important.  To our daughter she has the whole new house set out to her liking; to King Solomon he desired to fulfill all of God’s regulations through this temple.  However we now know that God does not just exist in buildings.  God’s Spirit moves all across creation and we do not need to visit a building to meet with Him.  It’s great to meet together with people and worship God in community, and some sort of facility certainly assists us with that.  But we must not fall into the trap of having a building to experience God.  If our family never builds a house we will still be a family.  If our churches don’t own their buildings, they will still be a church.  Buildings are good and useful however God is not bound in them.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, you move throughout all the earth and draw us closer to God.  May we be open to experiencing you wherever we go.  Amen.

What buildings are important to you?  How does a facility help us connect with God?  Where do you find the  […]

1 Kings