Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: 2 Chronicles 6-7, Psalm 136
2 Chronicles 7:12-18
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 As for you, if you walk before me, as your father David walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I made covenant with your father David saying, ‘You shall never lack a successor to rule over Israel.’
What does this passage mean to me/us
Reading the biblical account of Solomon building the temple for the Lord always amazes me because of the amount of the attention to detail and the dedication it must have taken on the part of Solomon and the people to erect such a magnificent house of worship. Throughout the entire process we are reminded about how they followed the specifications that the Lord gave them, not their own desires. In the passage that I have chosen to focus on today, the Lord says he has chosen to be in this place and he says, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” This verse reminds us of the purpose and the importance of worship. We come to a special place, a church sanctuary, a place set apart, a place that is like no other place that we visit during the week, a place full of reminders about the faithfulness of people who have gone before us, a place full of reminders about the God we worship, a place specifically reserved for worshiping the Lord our God. But it is not enough just to come here, we also need to humble ourselves, pray, and seek his face. I hope that we all remember this passage every time we have the privilege to worship in our church sanctuary, built by those who came before us as a place where we can be in God’s presence.
contributed by Debra LeBrun
Prayer
Dear God, whose steadfast love endures forever, help us to remember the importance of spending time in your sanctuary. May we humble ourselves before you and open our hearts to hear your word. May we turn from the ways of this world, that hide your face from us, and may we follow your ways more faithfully. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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