June 9
1 Kings 5:1-6:38 | PS 127:1-5 | Prov 16:28-30 | Acts 7:1-29
In Hosea 6:6, we read, "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings." People focus way too much on religion and not enough on relationship. I see no shortage of Catholic grandparents who get upset because their children are not bothering to have their infant grandchildren baptized. There are no shortage of Christians who get upset at their children for not going to church. There are no shortage of Jewish parents who are upset when their adult children no longer want to follow the traditions of the holidays or go to synagogue. What these things all have in common is they have nothing to do with the heart of the individual and instead reflect on externals, adhering to certain traditions. God is so patient with us. He doesn't really need anything from us. What He desires is relationship. People tend to focus on their denominations, but there is a remnant which crosses theological boundaries and denominations who have their eyes focused on the Lord, who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who seek to walk hand in hand with Him daily. Everything else is window dressing. God sees the heart of each individual.
We read of the beginning of the building of the Temple in 1 Kings 6:1, "It was in midspring, in the month of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt." Don't just rush past the number of years. After 480 years there was still a remnant of people who loved the Lord enough to embark on a major building project to honor Him. Notice that the Lord focuses on the heart of the people over the actual building in 6:11-13, "Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”" As Stephen stands before his accusers and gives his defense, we read in Acts 7:5-7, "“But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’"
As we read numbers like 480 and 400 years above, we must remember what it states in 2 Peter 3:8, "But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day." Just consider for a moment, the Mayflower landed in 1620, which means that America is 405 years from that date. How have we done considering the strong Christian roots that began with the Pilgrims. For the most part we are immersed in utter secularism. God is far removed from most families, most conversations, most decisions, etc. Please do not think keeping a few trinket traditions has anything to do with keeping a relationship with the Lord. We read in Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good." So, we must decide what we do in our households, with our families. Everyone can smell hypocrisy a mile away, including our children. They can sense real faith and external religion and they know the difference. We must all ask ourselves what it is that we have and what it is that is seen in our own respective mission fields. Remember, it is and always has been about a remnant. Will you choose to join the remnant?
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: