2 Chronicles 2

“Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: ‘As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel. And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?” 2 Chronicles 2:1-6 (NKJV)

One spring, my wife had the idea to spruce up our patio.  It began with a simple conversation about a table and chairs.  Then, it grew to wicker love seats, side chairs, a charcoal grill, side tables, and a fire pit. It was too much to remember, so I had to write it all down. Today’s chapter is basically a hardware store shopping list.  But don’t get bored, because if you skip through it, you will probably miss something significant: Solomon’s conviction about His Lord.

Solomon told Hiram (a pagan king) that 1) the God of Israel is greater than all gods, and 2) I need you to give me lumber and carpenters to build Him a house.  Can you imagine parachuting into Mecca and telling the Moslems worshipping there that you want to build the God of Israel a house, and you want them to give you supplies?  But that is exactly what Solomon does!  And, by God’s grace, he received what He asked for!  How faithful are you at acting upon the bold steps the Lord is leading you to take?  The apostle Paul had a similar boldness at Mars Hill, where he spoke forth the truth that there is only ONE God and that He will judge mankind, whether they believe in Him or not.

“‘Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.’ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” Acts 17:30-34 (NKJV)

Christians who act on Biblical convictions get mocked and intellectually scrutinized, threatened, and beaten, yet some respond by surrendering their lives to follow Jesus. Since the results of our faithful witness are varied, our goal for boldly sharing the gospel must be to obey God, regardless of the results. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)