Preparing our ‘FUTURE GENERATIONS’ for God’s MINISTRY!
April 29 Bible
Reading: 1 Chronicles Chapters 22-24
Preparing our ‘FUTURE GENERATIONS’ for God’s MINISTRY!
Now David said, "Solomon my son is
young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be
exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will
now make preparation for it." So David made abundant preparations before
his death. (1 Chron. 22:5)
King David
was a visionary. Not only did he understand how to follow God’s plan during his
lifetime, but David was able to look beyond his lifetime and fulfill his desire
to build the house of God through his son Solomon. He wanted the best for God,
and the house of God that David envisioned in his imagination was to be “exceedingly magnificent, famous and
glorious throughout all countries” (v. 5). So, while David was still alive,
he decided to prepare everything in
advance for his son Solomon, so that when the time came to start with the
building construction, everything that was needed would be readily stocked,
available and in the proper place.
Let us look
closely at the different things that King David did while he was alive in
advance preparation for building the house of God for and on behalf of his son Solomon:
- He gathered all the foreigners in Israel together as part of his manpower resource planning (v. 2a)
- He designated and appointed masons for cutting the hewn stones for the building (v. 2b)
- He stocked up iron in plenty for the use of nails and joints (v. 3a)
- He gathered bronze in advance for the inlay work of the building (v. 3b)
- He accumulated cedar trees for the major construction work (v. 4)
- He called his son Solomon and gave him specific instructions and encouragement (vv. 6-13)
- He recruited different skilled workers in advance, including woodsmen and stone cutters (v. 15a)
- He amassed all the costly materials needed for the exterior of the building (vv. 14-16)
- He directed all the leaders of Israel about how they should assist Solomon in his task (v. 17)
- He brought Israel to a relative time of peace and rest from all war, thus making it conducive for the massive building project (v. 18-19)
- Finally, he made his son Solomon king of
Israel while he was alive and gave him proper authority and power to rule over
Israel (23:1)
In a
nutshell, David prepared his son Solomon for God’s ministry that he could easily
undertake after he was dead and gone. In a striking parallel, we see how our
Lord Jesus Christ coached and mentored his twelve disciples through a daily training
process during the 3.5 years of His public ministry. Every incident, every
miracle, every parable was
a teaching lesson for His disciples about God's wonderful plan of redemption
and the wonderful ministry that God had for them in the future. During the week
before He died, Jesus spent quality time with his disciples as He prepared them
for His eventual death and separation, and we can read the lengthy discourses
of Jesus in the gospel of John chapters 13-16. Thereafter, Jesus prayed for His
disciples in His lengthy high priestly prayer recorded in John chapter 17 (see
verses 8 and 20 in particular). Jesus was actually preparing His disciples for
the future ministry that they had to undertake after His death and ascension to
heaven.
Apostle Paul
took this cue from His Lord and also mentored his beloved disciple Timothy, who
was “a true son in the faith” (1 Tim.
1:2) through the two personal epistles of 1st and 2nd
Timothy. God has gifted us tremendous wisdom through various experiences that
we have undergone in our lives, and God desires that we should also prepare our
future generations for God’s ministry just like King David, our Lord Jesus
Christ and Apostle Paul. Let’s take some time today and examine our lives to
check what we are doing in that area of ministry!
