SCRIPTURE: 1 Chronicles 17
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle. Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’ [1 Chronicles 17:5-6]
But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” [Matthew 8:20]
David wants to build a house for God; God wants to build a house for David.
But they’re both talking about different kinds of houses.
David is thinking about all of the religious temples that fill the planet, and wants to honour God like the other nations honour their gods.
But God is not interested in property or places, His heart lies with people.
He dwells among the people, wherever they are; He does not hide in a ‘sanctuary’ and wait for people to come to Him.
He needs no place to lay His head, except where His people are.

As far as I can tell, from what I read in the bible, God is not interested in temples – except in people as temples.
Fancy cathedrals, expensive sanctuaries, ornate temples… these things mean nothing to Him; Yes, in the end He accepts the temple from Solomon; but we get the impression He regrets it.
On several occasions, He allows it to be sacked, and eventually destroyed.
But His promise is to build a people, a royal house.

He sends Jesus to wander the land, to get the message out, to spread His love “to the ends of the earth”.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. [John 1:14]
The literal reading “made His home among us” is ‘tented’ or ‘tabernacled’ among us.
Jesus could also say, “My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another [with] no place even to lay his head.”
Do we focus on buildings, or on people? Do we share the same priorities as God does? Do we huddle and hide from the world in our sacred space, waiting for people to come to us, or do we move from one place to another with the Lord, seeking and saving and serving the lost?

PRAYER:
Lord, may I be a sanctuary for You, one that moves from place to place, eager to connect people to You.