God Not Gold

Let nothing separate you from the love of God. Serve and obey and you will see a sure reward. You will receive as you believe. 

“The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. So Solomon built the temple and completed it. He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.” 1 Kings 6:2-21

Solomon spent seven years building the temple of the Lord. He spared no expense and bought only the finest supplies. Great wealth and abundant gold covered the temple. Solomon must have felt pretty good about what he had done, but God gave a surprise response to his sacrifice. 

God said it is your obedience, not this opulence, that pleases me. Solomon spent years building a temple that was pleasing to his eyes without asking God what pleased him. God said it is your obedience that will unlock blessing. It is your obedience that pleases Me and will lead you to see promises come to pass. Not once in this passage does God comment on the gold and not once in our lives does our gold excite Him. He made it. It is his.

There is one area of the temple where God was made to dwell and that is the inner sanctuary. We are temples of the Holy Spirit and the inner sanctuary within us is our hearts. It is our hearts where we decide if we will obey. It is our hearts that determine if we follow Jesus. Do you think God is impressed by what you have done or by your devotion? Like Solomon, are you impressed by gold or making room for God? Recognize that God is most pleased by those who love faithfully by listening and following His ways. 

“Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat. He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws.” Psalms 147:1-20

What else pleases God? Praise that comes from a grateful heart for all God has done. God wants us to live with hearts that respond to what we have received. David told of the ways that God was building up the community by binding broken hearts and bringing the lost back. God is always working and always building the kingdom. All authority and power are His. We need not boast of what we have done for God, but what He has done for us.  

David said God does not delight in your physical strength. He delights in your fearful and faithful heart. He delights when your inner sanctuary invites Him in and gives Him authority. He delights when our hope is in Him. David sang so that others would learn to step back and see all the ways that God is working.  God is bringing peace, provision, and His power through people who listen and obey His laws. How could you grow in pleasing God by placing more trust in Him and more closely following the law to love like Jesus? 

“Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed…Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many…let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart”

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10

Wisdom tells us to work diligently and live by faith. If we were made to be like God, and God is always working, then perhaps work is a gift from God. This is a very different mindset than what the world teaches. Work is not meant to be a grind but a gift. Our Western world teaches us to pursue comfort and ease. Wisdom tells us that we were made to find meaning with our work and idle hands lead to idolatry. There is a pleasure and possession trap in our culture that people pursue that leads to emptiness. It is like Solomon adorning the walls with gold and not realizing that worshiping God by doing what He says is what pleases Him the most. 

God made you to enjoy each day. He wants you to have experiences and make memories. He tells us to enjoy our youth but to stay balanced in our approach by remembering that one day we will stand before God. Like David sang, the fear of the Lord can help guide us in His ways and rid us of our anxious ways. Where is God wanting you to put in more work? What are you doing that requires faith for it to succeed? Shipping grain across the sea is not a guarantee, but demonstrates trust in the almighty for it to succeed. 

“They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity…I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed.” Isaiah 46:1-13

Isaiah spoke of how he saw people bow down to man-made idols and worship gods of gold. God warned that the very false idols they worshiped would lead them into captivity and could not help them when they were in need. It is the age old question of whether we possess our possessions or whether they posses us. Does this message not resonate with us today? We live in a consumer culture where many measure success by who has the most toys rather than who lives truly lives in accordance to God’s ways. 

God threw a rescue rope to the rebel and the righteous. He spoke a word that can save. He said remember the truth that I am God and there is no other. Remember my power and what pleases me will come to pass. Remember my words and what I have promised.  He said I will bring my righteousness near and salvation will not be delayed. God is saying stop pursuing empty ideas and realize everything is part of my plan. He is foretelling the promise of the Messiah, Jesus, who would bring peace and hope to the people. The fear of God invites us to realize life is better when we change our perspective so we see from a kingdom perspective. 

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered…You know the commandments…Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come eternal life…a blind man, Bartimaeus…was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”…What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” Mark 10:14-52 

The blind man could see. Can we? Can we see how it all connects to having a heart dedicated to God? Solomon built a temple covered in gold but did not give God what He really wanted. David sang God delights in those who fear Him and put their hope in Him, not in human strength or stuff. Solomon wrote hard work and having trust will reap a righteous reward. Isaiah said look to the God who made gold not gold itself. Jesus loved the rich young ruler and invited him to let go what held his heart, while Bartimaeus, owning almost nothing, received everything because he had faith. The question running through every passage is not what you have, but what fills your inner sanctuary? Who has your heart? God is not impressed by what adorns the outside, but the actions of our hearts. 

Paul said nothing can separate you from the love of God, but many things can distract you from living in that love and for the love of Christ. Worldly wealth, comfort, pride, and fear can all compete for the throne of our hearts that should belong to Christ alone. Yet when we fall short, the promise remains the same because the Promise Keeper is faithful. He says obey Me, trust Me, follow Me, and you will see My faithfulness. God’s greatest rewards are not measured in possessions, but in His presence. As you surrender your heart to Him, you will discover that His commands are not burdens but invitations into the abundant life He has prepared for you.

So what is filling the inner sanctuary of your heart today? Is there anything you treasure more than following Jesus? Anything keeping you from giving Him your all? Where is God calling you to step out in faith, give generously, serve faithfully, or obey completely even if you can’t see the outcome? Bartimaeus believed and was blessed. The rich young ruler walked away because he could not release what he loved most. Which example will your life reflect today? Choose to trust, choose to obey, and choose to follow, for the surest reward is not what God puts into your hands but that His love will fill your heart as you live to please Him.