The completion and dedication of the temple was a grand affair, one of those mountaintop experiences that are few and far between but which all people find encouraging.
But true spirituality cannot be sustained with “big events.” There must be a regular, daily, remembrance of God, constantly nourishing the heart. Chapter eight notes that Solomon “sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses . . . according to each day’s requirement” (vss. 13-14).
J.G. McConville has written: “Christian living and spirituality are only real if they can survive in the long quiet reaches of life. . . . It is the regular, unseen, perhaps solitary seeking of God that testifies to spiritual reality that builds Christian character.”
Prayer. Daily Bible reading. Personal reflection. Tending to the needs of others. These are sacrifices with which God is well pleased, and which must be a daily part of our lives