May 22
1 Kings 7:1-51; 2 Chronicles 3:15-4:22
Only one thing remains, God! Everything else will eventually decay or die. This is not depressing, just reality. This reality should make one step back and question what it is that they spend their lives focusing on. We really don't know much about Stephen. He jumps into the scene in Acts 6, is focused on in Acts 7, then is gone. We don't know if he was married or had children. We know nothing about his prior profession. We don't know about his education, his home, or anything else. What we know is that he laid everything on the line as he spoke forth to the religious council. Knowing that his own body, being mortal, cannot last, he set his focus on God. We notice the last thing that he saw in Acts 7:55-56, "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
In a very different portion of Scripture, we read in 1 Kings 7 the many building projects of King Solomon. In addition to the temple, he spared no cost in building his own house, the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars, the Hall of Judgment, the house for his wife. One more beautiful and ornate than the next. Each filled with precious stones, the finest cedar, ornate carvings, etc. I have been to Israel three times and would love to walk through these buildings. The problem is they all have one thing in common. None of them exist any longer.
It's not that the things of this world are unimportant, it's just that they are of lesser importance. One thing lasts into eternity, the other does not. When we look at the prophets of old, they had it right. Isaiah was willing to walk about naked for three years in obedience to God, as a message to not only Judah, but also to their enemies, Egypt and Ethiopia (Cush). Ezekiel was willing to go through very uncomfortable situations such as lying on his side for prolonged periods of time and cooking his meals over dung. Jeremiah was thrown in a cistern, beaten, and disgraced socially as he obeyed God's calling. Daniel was thrown into a lion's den to obey. All of these men did what they did because their focus was on that which was greater. We must do the same. We must be about His business personally, and He should be the focus of our conversation when engaging others. We have the ability to reach others with the gospel message, so that they can indeed start their path into eternity and their focus on that which lasts.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: