OUR DAILY BREAD : FIRST THINGS FIRST

[cimi]

March 19
Tuesday


FIRST THINGS
FIRST

READ:
1 Chronicles 28:5-10
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Know the God of your
father, and serve Him
with a loyal heart and
with a willing mind.
__1 Chronicles 28:9
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When our granddaughter Sarah was very young, she told us she wanted to be a basketball coach like her daddy when she grew up. But she couldn't be one yet, she said, because first she had to be a player; and a player has to be able to tie her shoelaces, and she couldn't tie hers yet!

First things first, we say. And the first thing in all of life is to know God and enjoy Him.

Acknowledging and knowing God helps us to become what we were meant to be. Here is King David's counsel to his son Solomon: "Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind" (1 Chron. 28:9).

Remember, God can be known. He is a Person, not a logical or theological concept. He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, and desires as any person does. A. W. Tozer writes, "He is a person and can be known in increasing degrees of intimacy as we prepare our hearts for the wonder of it." Ah, there's the rub: We must "prepare our hearts."

The Lord is not playing hard to know; those who want to know Him can. He will not foist His love on us, but He does wait patiently, for He wants to be known by you. Knowing Him is the first thing in life. __David Roper

```````````He walks with me, and He talks with me,```````````
````````````````And He tells me I am His own;```````````````
````````````And the joys we share as we tarry there````````````
``````````````None other has ever known. __Miles`````````````
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The thought of God staggers the mind
but to know Him satisfies the heart.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Chronicles 28:5-10*****************

5 And of all my sons (for
the LORD has given me
many sons) He has chosen
my son Solomon to sit on
the throne of the kingdom
of the LORD over Israel.

6 Now He said to me, "It is
your son Solomon who
shall build My house and
My courts; for I have
chosen him to be My son,
and I will be his Father.

7 Moreover I will establish
his kingdom forever, if he is
steadfast to observe My
commandments and My
judgments, as it is this day."

8 Now therefore, in the
sight of all Israel, the
assembly of the LORD, and
in the hearing of our God,
be careful to seek out all
the commandments of the
LORD your God, that you
may possess this good land,
and leave it as an
inheritance for your
children after you forever.

9 As for you, my son
Solomon, know the God of
your father, and serve Him
with a loyal heart and with a
willing mind; for the LORD
searches all hearts and
understands all the intent of
the thoughts. If you seek
Him, He will be found by
you; but if you forsake Him,
He will cast you off forever.

10 Consider now, for the
LORD has chosen you to
build a house for the
sanctuary; be strong, and
do it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In this reading, King David has called the leaders of Israel to
acknowledge his son Solomon as the future ruler and temple builder.
The priests and Levites had already been informed of their proper
temple service. This passage marks Solomon's public commitment to
the costly and time-consuming building of God's sanctuary on earth.
The earthly temple prefigures the heavenly temple of God (Heb. 9-10).