No “Thank You” Needed
Our long-awaited and highly anticipated top-to-bottom kitchen remodel began two years ago on March 7, 2023. We demolished the kitchen’s 1952 cabinets and countertops, the one inch thick plaster-over-drywall walls, the flooring and subfloor, and the wall separating the kitchen and dining room.
Working as the general contractor and finish carpenter, it took six months and eight days for our new kitchen to emerge from the rubble. We enjoyed our first meal in the finished kitchen and dining room on September 15, 2023, which just happened to be Erev Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish New Year!
As you can see, the transformation was dramatic. But, not once in the intervening one year, five months and 16 days has my wife said to me, “This kitchen is fantastic! Thank you so much for building it for me.”
I hope you are shocked by this. But please be assured it is NOT true! If you knew my wife, you would have immediately doubted my testimony. She expresses her gratitude and delight in the new kitchen to the Lord and me daily!
Why the long fable about my wife’s non-response? It pictures God’s response to the magnificent Temple Solomon spent seven years building for Him!
Solomon wanted to build a house worthy of God’s glory. No less than 12 chapters of Scripture detail the materials, construction, and opulence of the Temple. In stark contrast, there is not a single verse indicating that God commended Solomon for his amazing work, e.g., “Great job, Solomon. Thanks for building a spectacular place for my Name.”
So, what does this have to do with our kitchen remodel? Just as we expect my wife’s expression of gratitude for the new kitchen, we might assume God would likewise thank Solomon for the vast resources and effort that went into the Temple. Why the silence?
Gratitude is the appropriate response to having a need met. My wife says “thank you” because she needed what I provided. But God is the holy, all-sufficient Creator and sustainer of everything. He needs nothing; therefore, gratitude is not one of God’s attributes. An expression of gratitude from God to Solomon is not only unwarranted, but it would also imply God’s dependence on Solomon. God did not want Solomon to make this mistake.
However, God did have something to say to Solomon regarding the Temple. The Lord spoke to him twice during the building process. But rather than offering thanks, He issued an admonition and a warning.
First, God reinforced the necessity of Solomon’s faith-filled obedience to Him (1 Kings 6:11–13). The second time, God warned Solomon of the dire consequences of failing to be faithful (e.g., through idolatry) – God’s promises to David would remain unfulfilled and the Temple would be destroyed, eliciting the derision of Israel’s enemies (1 Kings 9:7–9).
God’s warnings drew Solomon’s focus from the Temple (what Solomon has done for God) to what Solomon needs most: God Himself. God does not want Solomon’s single-minded devotion because He needs it, but because Solomon needs God above all else. God alone can bring to pass the promises to David and his descendants. The Lord’s message to Solomon was simple: “The worship I desire is a life lived in dependence on Me.”
We know Solomon got the message. During the Temple’s dedication service, Solomon finished blessing the people and said, “Your hearts therefore shall be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day” (1 Kings 8:61, emphasis added). This was a clarion call to living lives shaped by trust in the Lord alone.
Tragically, Solomon failed to honor his own admonition. Later in the text Solomon’s very words are used to condemn him: “For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been” (1 Kings 11:4, emphasis added). In the end, Solomon lived a life shaped by trusting idols (something other than God), and his magnificent Temple was destroyed by Israel’s enemies.
Solomon’s experience teaches us that God cares little for the outward trappings of worship, no matter how grandiose. Instead, true worship is not about what but Who.
Which brings me back to the kitchen illustration. My wife said “thank you” because she received something she wanted and needed. We hear no “thank you” from God because He needs nothing from us (“what”). Instead, we need Him (“Who”). The worship God desires from us is a life molded by faith in Him. The pomp and circumstance of how we come to God matters not at all if we are not living in dependence on Him.
God wants our hearts to be wholly devoted to Him because it is what we need most! Sadly, like Solomon, our sin-afflicted hearts lead us to focus on the externals of worship – building towering sanctuaries, writing moving hymns, offering praise with our lips, giving a tithe, etc. Or even worse, our hearts lead us to depend on something other than Him. When we do that, we are not worshipping God at all.
We all lack hearts “wholly devoted” to the Lord. By nature, we cannot help but turn from trusting God to trusting something else, the idols of man-made religions and philosophies, or people, wealth, government, or ourselves. Thankfully, God promised a New Covenant that would provide forgiveness and a transformed heart (Jeremiah 31:31–34). This is the New Covenant Messiah Jesus inaugurated through His sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection. All who put their trust in Messiah Jesus enter this covenant and its blessings.
LIFE in Messiah exists to tell God’s chosen people about this New Covenant. Our hearts yearn to see people turn from the “externals” of religion to be made true worshippers through faith in Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice. Join us as we trust God to raise up a new generation of worshipers “wholly devoted to the LORD.”
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Written by Dan, Life in Messiah Board member
What is something that keeps your heart from being “wholly devoted to the LORD”? We all need the Spirit’s help to daily turn from these idols to wholehearted dependence on God.
Because of who He is and what He has done, our all-sufficient God deserves all the glory and praise (Psalm 106:1)! If you are able, set aside some time to worship Him today.
Please continue to pray for our Jewish friends, especially those who are religious, that their eyes would be opened to the gift of salvation that comes through knowing Jesus the Messiah. If you would like to learn more about religious differences among Jewish people, check out this article: https://www.lifeinmessiah.org/jewish-evangelism-training/jewish-religious-differences-and-the-gospel.