How many times have I told you not run in God's house!

In our parents' generation it was quite common to refer to the church building as God's house. While no physical edifice these days is technically God's house, it was the place where we gathered together to praise the Lord, learn His Word, and give financially to support the ministry of the local church. While the building may not be God's house, it certainly is a building that has been set apart for a special purpose (i.e., sanctified), and therefore is worthy of our respect in a special sense. The big question is how do we best show our respect when we enter into its gates to fellowship and worship with the family of God?

There is an interesting verse in 1 Kings 6:7 (I'm teaching through the book of 1 Kings on Sunday mornings):

"And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built."

Why do you think that God's or Solomon's directions were to not have a hammer or chisel or iron tool heard in the temple while it was being built?

Some say it's because God doesn't like noise in His sanctuary. I have to smile at that one. After all God loves kids, and kids make noise :). More germane is Psalm 150:

Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

My personal thought that I will leave you on this, is maybe it had more to do with honoring God through our preparation to go to the sanctuary, and not so much with what we do after we get there. The stones were to be so perfectly prepared for the Lord that they didn't need to be messed with at the sanctuary site. Maybe a point is that doing God's work is a 24/7 lifestyle, and that we should be prepared by our service for the Lord during the week, so that we come into the sanctuary ready to perfectly give of ourselves and our labor.

Sanctuary time shouldn't be a rat race and scurrying about during worship and during the teaching of the Word. It doesn't have to be a quiet time, but is should be a focused time- not focused on work, but focused on God. Any thoughts?

Yours in Him,
Pastor B.