Anglican Devotional 24 September 2026 By The Daily Fountain of the Church Of Nigeria

TOPIC – It Is A Matter Of Priority.

READ: 1 Kings 7:1-12

1 But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.

5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

6 And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.

10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.

THE MESSAGE:

King Solomon can be described as a master builder when we consider the complex nature of his palace which comprised of the House of the Forest of Lebanon (verses 2-5), the Hall of Pillars (verse 6), the Hall of Judgement (verse 7), a lavish open court containing other buildings, and his own house (verses 8-12). As a master builder, Solomon had to set his priority right by ensuring that he started with the temple project which was a house built for God, before embarking on his palace complex which took him thirteen years to complete (verse 1). Solomon built for God and God had to build for Solomon, so to speak.

Solomon’s desire to complete the Lord’s house before building his own house is commendable. We have many desires that compete for our attention and we must remember that God’s work is priority. The Scripture enjoins us to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and the basic necessities of life will be ours too (Matthew 6:33). Who knows whether Solomon would have succeeded in building his palace if he had not built God’s house first. We read in Haggai 1:2ff how God rebuked His people for building their houses instead of rebuilding His temple. When we put God first, He will provide for our deepest needs (Matthew 6:33).

PRAYER: Father, help me to give You first place in every area of my life. Amen.