Many years before the construction of the temple was even started, King David, freely and with pleasure, set aside his “personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple” (1 Chron. 29:3, NIV). He was a powerful, living example to his son Solomon of how to properly prioritizing material possessions and the importance of cheerfully giving to God. Once the temple was completed, King Solomon carefully placed the things his father had set aside into the treasury of the Lord.<\/p>\n
Jesus took this concept a step farther with His disciples, counseling them to lay up their treasures in heaven rather than on earth:<\/p>\n
\nDo not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19\u201321)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Notice that Jesus didn\u2019t say that where our heart is our treasure will be, but that where our treasure is our heart is going to be. So we can become more heavenly-hearted by putting a bigger investment of our treasure in heaven. Our hearts will then follow. This is part of the reason why God said David was a man after His own heart.<\/p>\n
The beauty of this is that the treasures we store in heaven are forever exempt from decay and theft. It’s good every now and then to stop and test our hearts, asking ourselves, “What is my treasure and where am I keeping it?” Every earthly treasure we have is susceptible to obliteration, so why focus on it?<\/p>\n
“LORD, help us to keep our treasures in You and eternity today.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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1 Kings 7 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 2<\/sup> He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>covered with cedar above upon the beams, that\u00a0lay\u00a0<\/em>on forty five pillars, fifteen\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>a row.\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0there were\u00a0<\/em>windows\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>three rows, and light\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>against light\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>three ranks.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And all the doors and posts\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>square, with the windows: and light\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>against light\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>three ranks. 6<\/sup>\u00a0And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof\u00a0was<\/em>fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>before them: and the\u00a0other\u00a0<\/em>pillars and the thick beam\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>before them.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>the porch of judgment: and\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And his house where he dwelt\u00a0had\u00a0<\/em>another court within the porch,\u00a0which\u00a0<\/em>was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh\u2019s daughter, whom he had taken\u00a0to wife\u00a0<\/em>, like unto this porch.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0All these\u00a0were of\u00a0<\/em>costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>on the outside toward the great court.\u00a010<\/sup>And the foundation\u00a0was of\u00a0<\/em>costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And above\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And the great court round about\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the\u00a0LORD, and for the porch of the house. 13<\/sup>\u00a0And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0He\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a widow\u2019s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.\u00a0\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.\u00a0\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And he made two chapiters\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>five cubits:\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0<\/em>nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And the chapiters that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>upon the top of the pillars\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>of lily work in the porch, four cubits.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And the chapiters upon the two pillars\u00a0had pomegranates\u00a0<\/em>also above, over against the belly which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>by the network: and the pomegranates\u00a0were<\/em> two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.\u00a0\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And upon the top of the pillars\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. 23<\/sup> And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other:\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>round all about, and his height\u00a0was<\/em>five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.\u00a0\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0And under the brim of it round about\u00a0there were<\/em>knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>cast in two rows, when it was cast.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea\u00a0was set\u00a0<\/em>above upon them, and all their hinder parts\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>inward.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And it\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. 27<\/sup>\u00a0And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And the work of the bases\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>on this\u00a0manner:\u00a0<\/em>they had borders, and the borders\u00a0were<\/em>between the ledges:\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And on the borders that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>between the ledges\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges\u00a0there was\u00a0<\/em>a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>certain additions made of thin work.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver\u00a0were<\/em>undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a cubit: but the mouth thereof\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>round\u00a0after\u00a0<\/em>the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it\u00a0were<\/em>gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0And under the borders\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels\u00a0were joined\u00a0<\/em>to the base: and the height of a wheel\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>a cubit and half a cubit.\u00a0\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0And the work of the wheels\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes,\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>all molten.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0there were\u00a0<\/em>four undersetters to the four corners of one base:\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>the undersetters\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>of the very base itself.\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0And in the top of the base\u00a0was there\u00a0<\/em>a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>of the same.\u00a036<\/sup> For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.\u00a0\u00a037<\/sup>\u00a0After this\u00a0manner\u00a0<\/em>he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>one size. 38<\/sup> Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths:\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>every laver was four cubits:\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>upon every one of the ten bases one laver.\u00a039<\/sup>\u00a0And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south.\u00a040<\/sup>\u00a0And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the\u00a0LORD:\u00a041<\/sup>\u00a0The two pillars, and the\u00a0two\u00a0<\/em>bowls of the chapiters that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>upon the top of the pillars;\u00a042<\/sup>\u00a0And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>upon the pillars;\u00a0\u00a043<\/sup>\u00a0And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;\u00a044<\/sup>\u00a0And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;\u00a045<\/sup>\u00a0And the pots, and the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the\u00a0LORD,\u00a0were of\u00a0<\/em>bright brass.\u00a0\u00a046<\/sup>\u00a0In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.\u00a0\u00a047<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon left all the vessels\u00a0unweighed\u00a0<\/em>, because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.\u00a0\u00a048<\/sup>\u00a0And Solomon made all the vessels that\u00a0pertained\u00a0<\/em>unto the house of the\u00a0LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>,\u00a049<\/sup>\u00a0And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right\u00a0side\u00a0<\/em>, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>gold,\u00a050<\/sup>\u00a0And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>pure gold; and the hinges\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>gold,\u00a0both\u00a0<\/em>for the doors of the inner house, the most holy\u00a0place, and\u00a0<\/em>for the doors of the house,\u00a0to wit\u00a0<\/em>, of the temple.\u00a0\u00a051<\/sup>\u00a0So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the\u00a0LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated;\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many years before the construction of the temple was even started, King David, freely and with pleasure, set aside his “personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple” (1 Chron. 29:3, NIV). He was a powerful, living example to his son Solomon of how to properly prioritizing material possessions and the importance of cheerfully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6709"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16238,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6709\/revisions\/16238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}