First Kings
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Good Intentions
(I Kings 8:12-21)
Sometimes good intentions get a bad rap. It’s natural to question the guy who has lots of good goals but never accomplishes anything. Some folks, however, accomplish much and continue to dream bigger dreams. Some of their good intentions may never come to fruition, but some do—and dreams that become reality tend to fuel yet more dreams. A man with a million ideas and some solid accomplishments will go far; a man with no ideas and no accomplishments will go nowhere. Don’t count the dreamer out. If he brought some visions into reality in the past, he’s likely to do it again—on a grander scale than ever before.
David was a big dreamer and a big accomplisher. No sooner had one goal been met than it was replaced by a larger, more aggressive dream. Even when he faced reversals, he never allowed his heart to dream lesser dreams. And all this visionary thinking paid off. David expanded the frontiers of the kingdom well beyond anything known in Saul’s day. He established Jerusalem as the capitol city. After several insurrections, he not only solidified his power, but he became the undisputed monarch of all Israel. Even his personal failures couldn’t stop David from big plans. In fact, his repentance led to renewed vigor in serving the Lord.
One of David’s dearest, most heart-felt dreams was his desire to build a permanent temple for Jehovah. He envisioned a permanent place of worship at Jerusalem that would serve to solidify the nation and testify to the world of Jehovah’s great name (18). David’s temple dream, however, would not be fulfilled. For various reasons, God gave the temple construction oversight to David’s son, Solomon.
Was David’s dream of building the temple a foolish and extravagant vanity on his part? No! In fact the Lord said of David’s dream, “thou didst well that it was in thy heart” (18). In other words, David’s good intentions—though unfulfilled—were good nonetheless. Good intentions without action don’t amount to much. But where good intentions meet with action, something’s bound to happen. Even if you don’t get everything done, at least you get something done—and there’s still a dream or two left for tomorrow!
