King David was passionate about building as house for the name of the Lord, although his son, Solomon completed the vision. 1 Kings 8:17-19 says: “And the LORD said unto David my father . . . thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house UNTO MY NAME.”
God wants us to also build a house unto His name. A home that honors and lifts up the name of the Lord. A home where God delights to dwell. Solomon acknowledged in 1 Kings 8:13: “I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever.” And when He dedicated the house to the Lord, he prayed: “Now therefore arise, O LORD God into thy resting place” (2 Chronicles 6:41). Is your home a resting place for God, where He feels comfortable, and is not continually grieved?
And to what name are you building your home? Is it for the glory of your own name? Is it to the name of your own agenda? Or are you building it to God’s name?
To answer this question, we have to ask another question: Do we know the name of the Lord? This is a huge challenge to me. How can we build a home to the name of the Lord if we don’t truly know the name of our God? We often think we know God, but sadly, it is often a name we have conjured up in our own imagination. We so easily bring God down to our level, to fit into our lives. or into the “box” we make for Him.
The greatest challenge and pursuit of my life is to know more and more of the character, the attributes, and the name of God. It is only as I know His name and His attributes that I really know Him. And I can only know His character as I see it revealed in His Word.
We will never ever fully know God. It is impossible, for He is God. He is incomprehensible! But in His mercy He chooses to reveal to us what He wants us to know of Him. Therefore, here is a good idea for you. I did this when raising our children as I not only wanted to know God for myself but to reveal Him to my children.
When I read in God’s Word of an attribute of God or one of His names (for He has many names), I wrote it in a notebook at the top of the page. Underneath I wrote the reference. As I read the Word each day, I continued to write attributes I discovered. As I found more Scriptures about that name or attribute I wrote them under the heading. Eventually, I had my own book, filled with Scriptures about the character of God.
Gradually, one at a time, you can read the Scriptures regarding a certain attribute of God to your children in your Bible reading time and discuss it together. This is the way we get a true understanding of God.
And the more and more we know of Him the more we can build our home to His name, not a false name of our imagination, but the true image of God.
Hope you take up the idea.
Love from Nancy Campbell
P.S. Go to this link to read more about building a home to the name of the Lord:
http://tinyurl.com/BuildHomeHonorGod
Here some wonderful books to read about the character of God:
“The Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer
“The Attributes of God” by A. W. Tozer
“The Attributes of God” by Arthur W. Pink
“The Names of God” by Andrew Jukes
“The Names of God” by Lester Sumrall
“Names of God” by Nathan Stone