David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.
1 CHRONICLES 22:5
This verse has to be one of my favorite in the entire Bible. I love the fact that David makes no apologies about the kind of house that must be built for the Lord. This was not going to be a second-rate temple, but one that the nations would look at and be in awe of the God who was worshiped there. It was to be of “great magnificence and fame and splendor,” one that exceeded every expectation and would reflect some of the glory, wonder, and majesty of our King.
I believe that is exactly how we should see the church of Jesus Christ today. Everything about our lives should bring glory to God. We should be living lives that make people stop and wonder, “How is this possible?”
If the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives on inside of you and me, how could we live lives that are any less?
Our God lives in us.
We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we should not shrink back from all that God has called us to do. The church is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. You and I are central to God’s plan and purpose on this planet in this time. It is our job to ensure that we present a glorious, relevant, hope-filled, life-giving church to a lost and dying world. When we understand the purpose, potential, and power of the body of Christ, I think it will change our entire approach to the house of God and the way we live our everyday, ordinary, seemingly insignificant lives. There is nothing everyday, ordinary, or insignificant about the life of any believer. We all carry the Spirit of God himself within us, and there is nothing ordinary about that. It is magnificent. Splendid. Grand. Glorious.
The world would love to keep the church small, on the fringes, broken, irrelevant, and archaic, but God has called his bride to be great. Let’s not be afraid of loving God’s house, serving there, and building exceedingly magnificent lives that bring glory to the One who lives within us. The more we allow the fruit of the Spirit to be developed in our lives, the more like him we become and the more splendid our lives become.
Believe for big things, dream extravagantly, expect God to do great things, and let’s make his name famous across this earth.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Do you think God’s church should be magnificent, famous, and splendid? If not, why not?