November 23, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Prepare and Negotiate!

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Opening Prayer

Lord, You alone can save, satisfy, and strengthen my inner being. You are my source of all health and inner healing.

Read 1 KINGS 5:1-18

[1] When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. [2] Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: [3] “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. [4] But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. [5] I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’ [6] “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.” [7] When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” [8] So Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. [9] My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.” [10] In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, [11] and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. [12] The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. [13] King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel-thirty thousand men. [14] He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. [15] Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, [16] as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. [17] At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. [18] The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it… Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psa. 24:1,3-4).

I have on a number of occasions heard people, when asked what they do, say in an apologetic voice something like, “Oh, I’m not in Christian service.” How sad, and what a misunderstanding of biblical teaching. If they are in the place where God wants them to be, doing the job that God has led them into, then of course they are in Christian service.

This chapter may be talking about preparations for the building of the Temple, but look at what is affirmed here. It was because Lebanon had worked hard to build up their forestry industry that the cedars were able to be used. It was because Israelite farmers had worked hard to learn and use their skills that there were crops to trade with. Sailors controlling the log rafts, builders and stone cutters all played a part in building the Temple. If there had not been an effective infrastructure in these areas of business, industry and commerce then there is no way that the Temple project could ever have been started. Even the skills in international diplomacy exhibited by Solomon and Hiram are shown to be important. Moreover, without David’s previous relationship, not related to the Temple, that diplomacy would have been so much harder. A good system of manufacturing and commerce is necessary for any society to survive. The Bible has much to say about how such a system should function, but it never gives the impression that those believers who work in these areas are any less servants of God than those who work as preachers or teachers or pastors among God’s people. If you ever catch yourself thinking or saying something that might make such work sound less valuable–then think again!

Apply

“…Your wish is my command” (8, The Message). Apply this response to your relationship to the Lord. Reflect on what it means to you.

Closing prayer

Loving Lord, I lift up fellow believers who struggle with their work. Encourage them to know that all work well done is pleasing to You.

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