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Thursday, May 14, 2009

"If you build it, he will come."

I wrote about this a little while ago, but I thought I'd go further into it.  It was David's idea to build the temple.  God was for it, but he didn't command David to build a temple like he told Noah to build the ark or Moses the tabernacle.  It was just on David's heart and God thought it was good.  Is there something to be said here about how we should live, listening to the spirit?  Maybe there are things we could create that God would be pleased with.  Not necessarily physical things, but any sort of idea, like a group to read the Chrono.  

I wanted to mention the great film Field of Dreams, where Kevin Costner hears a voice saying, "If you build it he will come."  Costner builds a baseball field in his cornfield and eventually reconciles with his father.  It's a great film about listening.  I'm not saying that we should follow every voice we hear or thought we have, but there's something to seeing what's going on and listening to what's going on around us.  Think of the "men of Isaachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do..."  

I'm a big baseball fan and there's a great story of what happened in the '20s.  St. Louis was one of the worst teams because they couldn't compete paying the best players to play for them.  Teams like, the same today, the NY Yankees could out could pay more so had the best team.  Well, in 1920 the new General Manager Branch Rickey sold their stadium to play in the same one that another team played in.  He used the money to start a 'farm system.'  The farm system was the first minor league.  Since they couldn't buy a team, they would grow one.  The way the minors works is they sign players at a young age and teach them how to play so when they are old and good enough they play for the major league team.  Well in 1926, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the NY Yankees in the World Series.  Now a days every team has a minor league system, but it's was Rickey's ingenuity that brought about their success.  It's also interesting to note that Branch Rickey later went to the Brooklyn Dodgers and was responsible for playing the first african-american and one of the most electrifying players ever, Jackie Robinson.  

I'm not sure if everyone will connect with the baseball references, but I think they are good examples of this.  I maybe not be completely correct about this idea either, so let me know what you think.  I do think there's something to do what's in our heart, maybe what God has put there.  Proverbs 25:2 - It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.  Jesus also said we would "do even greater things than these..."

3 comments:

Jax in the Blog said...

To be honest, you lost me at baseball. But, I read today that David was the one who desired to have the temple built for God and you're right God didn't ask for it. He had the ark around for the Isrealites to know that God is around and with them. This time however, David wanted a temple so God can "dwell in it". Now, this is about the God who made the heavens, the whole earth and the amazingly vast Universe! So the point to tie in to what you're saying is that we truly do have an amazingly humble, caring and loving God who would care enough to "dwell" in a human made temple. Even tho' the temple sounded beautiful and grand, it doesn't compare to how humbling we ought to think that the Only One who's perfect and indescribably excellent would humble himself to something humans made and ultimately, after Jesus's resurrection that He would reside in our very own hearts and bodies as "the temple of the Holy Spirit".

Tera Chau said...

(haha Jax u crack me up with ur "loss at baseball" comment)

Justin, that's super cool that you are relating the events in the Bible with things that you are passionate about, like baseball. Sheesh you sure know a lot about baseball! Thanks for sharing those interesting facts! BTW I read on CNN about minor league players getting assigned or "host" housing, is that true? That's a little odd, why can't they live at home or rent a place of their own?

I do agree with you though, I think God does put things/ideas on our hearts and hope that we will follow those thoughts and carry them out on His behalf, chrono for example... glad it was on your heart! :) But my question is how do we know which ideas are His ideas and which ones are just our futile ideas?

Justin Seibel said...

Good question Tera. I guess if the idea is tested and is proved to be good or if alot of good comes out of it. Of course a loud voice from the sky would help. that is the risk, but I think we can tell when God is blessing something or not.