Read 1 Kings 8:27-30 Key Verse: Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
I loved taking classes on the Old Testament because of the professor. Each class was an adventure as he made pages from an old, old book become new. Everything he said about the book I believed and treasured. I remember his emphasis on the passage where God declares that a home for God was not necessary for God dwelt in all the earth. Yet, with the power and wealth of Kings David and Solomon, came the order that they could now afford and should build a house. This passage deals with Solomon's wrestling with the ancient idea; God dwells everywhere, how could this house that hands have built possibly contain God? Yet, the "deal" that Solomon is making with God is still with the people of Israel as found in the key verse: Even as people pray to this house, hear in heaven these prayers and forgive those who ask.
Yet, we know that God as big as God is, can choose to come into the routine of our lives and it was exactly what God did in the pages of the New Testament. God, through Jesus, came into the smallness of Bethlehem, and moved about the earth bringing further proof of God's love for us. We still have the job of sharing that love with all. Why do some keep it hidden? Why are some content with just being about the Church and not about the people outside of the walls of the church?
As we pray for the days of General Conference to come, let us also pray that God would continue the movement that has been started in our hearts to love and care beyond our churches, to truly be people of God, who seek to reach all. May our prayer help us make new disciples who truly want the world transformed.
PRAYER: God of the universe, enter again into the spaces of my life in such a way that I might share You with others. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
