Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

Beautiful scene again from this window. Glorious sunshine. And one feature that I love is to sit here and watch the God-given aviation skills of the swallows who are flitting and cavorting all over the place…catching and swallowing bugs in mid-air. Wish I could do that. But I don’t really envy their diet. Hey…do you think if I ate more…oh, never mind.

It’s much too late again. I better hurry to take on the list.

Blessings on your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

This reading, particularly chapter 28, helps to clarify something in my own forgetful mind. Reading the account of Solomon building the temple back in 1 Kings 6 gave me the impression that the exquisite structure with all the craft and skill that it represented was master-minded by Solomon—giving evidence of his exceptional wisdom. I may have missed something back then that this chapter confirms. This rendering of the account reveals that David was in fact the master-mind, designer, engineer, architect, and organizer of the project—with full construction drawings and materials lists. Having engaged in a few simple building projects myself, this elevates my regard for David even further. He’s awesome! What an incredible creative engineer, administrator, and community organizer he was. And, as the FOCUS VERSE indicates, he was quick to honor his Sovereign as the source of his inspiration and understanding.

There is something really noteworthy for me here. It supports my belief that the Creator is pleased to see His creatures exercise their God-given gifts of creativity—especially when that exercise in rooted in a HEART AFTER GOD. A quip that has profoundly impacted me from childhood goes, “WHY COPY WHEN YOU CAN CREATE?” I think most people settle for living confining lives of conforming copy-cat-ism (How’s that for a new word?)

Consider a few questions with me: Why were there special gates to Jerusalem that called for “gatekeepers” to serve as guards? Coming to think of it, why were there even walls? Why was such attention given to organizing special ranks to guard and look after the “treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries for the dedicated things” (26:20)? (Plunder from military victories produced huge amounts of valuable stuff.) Furthermore, why was there need for such a well-organized army of 12 divisions of 24,000 troops each to be on duty through the 12 months of the year—one division each month? Here is my general answer that speaks to our lives today: It doesn’t matter how successful we become, how affuent we are, how well-organized we are, what great planners we are, how creative we get with décor and furnishings, how well insured and secured and protected we are—we still reside in a fallen world where the SIN-drome still prevails—where we are constantly threatened by evil, enemies, and criminals that will “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) to get what we’ve got. So the best protection against all this is a LIFE ASSURANCE policy that transcends the threat. Praise God! Do you realize?—that’s what the Bible is really all about!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).