Preparation
"And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." (Ezra 3:10-13)
The children of the captivity, who had been carried away as prisoners to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, were later commissioned by King Cyrus to return and rebuild the temple of the Lord which had been utterly destroyed at Jerusalem. The book of Ezra tells of the work done by the Israelites, and the opposition that they faced in completing this great work. The verses quoted above tell of the great joy that the people expressed upon completing, not the whole temple, but just the foundation.
Preparation is the key to the success of any great project, and a proper foundation is the key to the strength and endurance of any building. There was a great deal of preparation that took place before the Israelites could even begin to build the foundation. They had to clear all of the rubble and debris that cluttered the building site from where Solomon's temple had been demolished. They then had to carefully lay out the line for the foundation; and, as each stone was put in its place, it had to be made level and plumb. Even before all of this, however, there was an even more crucial work of preparation that took place without which the project would have been doomed from the start. That was the preparation that Ezra himself made before his God. "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." (Ezra 7:10) Ezra had vision, purpose, and faith. These are the things that prepared him to face the opposition and adversities that he encountered in finishing the work that God gave to him to do.
Jesus said, "Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:47-49) The foundation that we build for our lives is critical to the success that we will have in life. The rock that we build on is the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God - "upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) The foundation that we build is Jesus and the words that He spoke, and those which He inspired the apostles and prophets to set down for us. (See 1Corinthians 3:11, and Ephesians 2:20-22) We must be like Ezra, and prepare our hearts to seek the Lord. This is vital to any other thing that we do in our life. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will fall in line. To do anything else is like building on sand. If we do that, our building will surely fall.
It is not important how beautiful our house is. The thing that distinguishes a house from a home is the love that abides within it. Likewise, it is the Spirit of the Almighty, and our love for Him that will make our lives glorious. In describing the Bride of Christ, the psalmist says, "The king’s daughter is all glorious within." (Psalm 45:13) When the ancient men, who had seen and still remembered the glory of Solomon's temple, wept when they saw this temple because it was not as rich or as fine a house as the first had been. These men had the wrong idea, though. God said, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:9) It is not the house that is important at all, beloved. It is the glory of God that fills it! It does not matter what we look like, or how young or old we get, or how rich or poor we are, or even whether our body is wearing out - it is reflecting the glory of our God whatever state we are in.
God foretold through the prophet Isaiah that one would come to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. That one was John the Baptist. His whole ministry was about repentance, and preparing one's heart to seek the Lord Jesus when He appeared. John's message was simple enough: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." In other words, make a smooth, straight highway for the Lord to work on in your life. Years ago, I took an annual trip into the south of Missouri, and I remember some of the highways that were built through some very hilly terrain. The road crews had dug, or blown, through the hills and filled in the low spots to make a fairly level road surface to drive on. Besides making the road more level, though, they also straightened it out by not having to curve around every hill to avoid them. This made for a shorter and easier drive as well. Likewise, our crooked ways can make it difficult, and even impossible, for God to use us. Just as in building a good road, the mountains and hills (our pride and arrogance) must be brought down, and the valleys (our insecurities and weaknesses) must be exalted. God is looking for vessels whom He can use to bring glory and honor to Himself. He is looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong. He is not interested in what we can do for Him, He wants to show the world what He can do in us! We must repent of all the dead works that have defined our lives, and walk in newness of life in the Spirit. God wants to fill these temples, and He wants to move through our lives in order to reach the lost. Preparation is everything! Whether it is building our spiritual house, or laying a highway for our God, let us prepare our hearts to seek the Lord!
The children of the captivity, who had been carried away as prisoners to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, were later commissioned by King Cyrus to return and rebuild the temple of the Lord which had been utterly destroyed at Jerusalem. The book of Ezra tells of the work done by the Israelites, and the opposition that they faced in completing this great work. The verses quoted above tell of the great joy that the people expressed upon completing, not the whole temple, but just the foundation.
Preparation is the key to the success of any great project, and a proper foundation is the key to the strength and endurance of any building. There was a great deal of preparation that took place before the Israelites could even begin to build the foundation. They had to clear all of the rubble and debris that cluttered the building site from where Solomon's temple had been demolished. They then had to carefully lay out the line for the foundation; and, as each stone was put in its place, it had to be made level and plumb. Even before all of this, however, there was an even more crucial work of preparation that took place without which the project would have been doomed from the start. That was the preparation that Ezra himself made before his God. "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." (Ezra 7:10) Ezra had vision, purpose, and faith. These are the things that prepared him to face the opposition and adversities that he encountered in finishing the work that God gave to him to do.
Jesus said, "Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:47-49) The foundation that we build for our lives is critical to the success that we will have in life. The rock that we build on is the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God - "upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) The foundation that we build is Jesus and the words that He spoke, and those which He inspired the apostles and prophets to set down for us. (See 1Corinthians 3:11, and Ephesians 2:20-22) We must be like Ezra, and prepare our hearts to seek the Lord. This is vital to any other thing that we do in our life. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will fall in line. To do anything else is like building on sand. If we do that, our building will surely fall.
It is not important how beautiful our house is. The thing that distinguishes a house from a home is the love that abides within it. Likewise, it is the Spirit of the Almighty, and our love for Him that will make our lives glorious. In describing the Bride of Christ, the psalmist says, "The king’s daughter is all glorious within." (Psalm 45:13) When the ancient men, who had seen and still remembered the glory of Solomon's temple, wept when they saw this temple because it was not as rich or as fine a house as the first had been. These men had the wrong idea, though. God said, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:9) It is not the house that is important at all, beloved. It is the glory of God that fills it! It does not matter what we look like, or how young or old we get, or how rich or poor we are, or even whether our body is wearing out - it is reflecting the glory of our God whatever state we are in.
God foretold through the prophet Isaiah that one would come to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. That one was John the Baptist. His whole ministry was about repentance, and preparing one's heart to seek the Lord Jesus when He appeared. John's message was simple enough: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." In other words, make a smooth, straight highway for the Lord to work on in your life. Years ago, I took an annual trip into the south of Missouri, and I remember some of the highways that were built through some very hilly terrain. The road crews had dug, or blown, through the hills and filled in the low spots to make a fairly level road surface to drive on. Besides making the road more level, though, they also straightened it out by not having to curve around every hill to avoid them. This made for a shorter and easier drive as well. Likewise, our crooked ways can make it difficult, and even impossible, for God to use us. Just as in building a good road, the mountains and hills (our pride and arrogance) must be brought down, and the valleys (our insecurities and weaknesses) must be exalted. God is looking for vessels whom He can use to bring glory and honor to Himself. He is looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong. He is not interested in what we can do for Him, He wants to show the world what He can do in us! We must repent of all the dead works that have defined our lives, and walk in newness of life in the Spirit. God wants to fill these temples, and He wants to move through our lives in order to reach the lost. Preparation is everything! Whether it is building our spiritual house, or laying a highway for our God, let us prepare our hearts to seek the Lord!
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