The temple building project comes to an end. The contractors go, and the dedication
starts. It is hard to imagine just how
excited people must have felt as the long awaited building of the temple
reached its climax. God's people had
waited years for this, and now the ark of the Lord's covenant is brought in by
the Levites to take its central place in the temple. There follows an astonishing act of song,
joy, and music as they praise and thank God.
And God confirms his delight by filling the temple with His presence, a
presence so powerful and glorious that the priests could not perform their
service.
This happy state was reached because God's will was being
worked in God's way with God's timing.
What does this tell us as a church?
Can we envisage services of the type described here? Can we experience in our personal lives a
sense of purpose, joy and praise that we read of here? It offers a foretaste of heaven, and yet there
seems no reason why we too cannot experience something similar as a body and as
individuals if we are on God's pathway, enjoying His company and following His
will.
(member of Christ Church