There Came A Day
Have you ever had a good memory that stands out in your mind? A time in which you wish you could go back and relive it again? There are many things throughout my life I wish I could revisit, moments when I celebrated life to the fullest! Like the first date I had with my husband (butterflies in my stomach), and our wedding day (I wish had Pinterest back then). Or the first time I held each one of my baby boys in my arms (so precious). Or the first time I put on makeup (I’ll never forget that).
Everyone remembers the good, because when compared to the average, every-day circumstances, the good will always standout.
As I’ve been reading many books in the Old Testament, I recently landed in the book of Ezra where I was comforted with some teary-eyed emotions when reading about the memories of the temple.
The book of Ezra is where the foundation of the new temple is finally laid, “Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s house had been laid” (Ezra 3:11). Then in the very next verse some elders from Solomon’s time start doing some remembering. “But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple”. They had experienced such magnificence with the first temple that their comparison to the new temple was like the outfit you settle for off the clearance rack when the one you really want is full price.
They settled in comparison, because they feared that good would never be experienced like they once felt before.
Let’s not stay settled in comparison though. Hopping over to the book of Haggai, we get our spirits lifted when God declares, “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first”, says the Lord of Armies, “I will provide peace in this place” (Haggai 2:9). This is where our hands go up in praise and thanksgiving, as we launch out of the old and into the new— new testament that is.
Although the new temple wasn’t as magnificent as the old, it doesn’t mean that the memories wouldn’t be good. Even though the Spirit of God dwelt in the old temple, there came a day when Jesus himself walked in the new temple. In fact, Jesus realized that it had nothing to do with comparing the old with the new. He knew it had nothing to do with a stone structure. It’s why he said, “Destroy the temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” Therefore, the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and you are going to raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. So, when he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made (John 2:19-22).
Sometimes it takes a moment. Sometimes it takes listening. Sometimes it takes a miracle to remember the promises of God and His faithfulness. Three days after Jesus took his last breath on the cross, the glory of that final and forever temple rose from the dead! Because of Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross and his trust in his Father, the foundation of our salvation was laid. We can look back and see a past full of His faithfulness.
Although there may be average, every-day circumstances that occur in our lives, there are good memories still waiting to be made—a future filled with faithfulness that we won’t even know how to compare.