Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. (1 Chronicles 22:11 ESV)

We stood in the hall of this wonderful Christian School talking with the leadership… Vision flowed from the heart! Future, present, effort, love and dedication, just some words that can define the depth of the conversation. Two men, totally dedicated to create an environment of education through the heart of discipleship. You saw the twinkling in the eyes as they were the reflection of the heart.
For me it was like a refreshing river in a educationally dry nation.
While we were talking about the how of imparting this strong young generation they showed us the substance of their vision. The studios, the computers (Mac’s of course), the new Photograph project and… the fact that the student had full authority and access to the rooms!

Than this subject of what and how do we teach came up…
That’s where the verse above turned up…

David and Solomon
Of course, you know the story and probably heard several possible explanation of why David could not build this wonderful Temple, as much as it was his passion to provide the Lord a House!

Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ (1 Chronicles 22:6-10 ESV)

For me, it does not matter why David was not allowed to build, as you can of course disagree. My main issue here is, that there was no arguing, no disobedience, but moving forward with the Word if the prophet. David thought generational and because of that there it was no big deal who would build it, but mostly that it would be build. So… David back off and with that enlarged his life by the extension of the son!

We mostly miss the point by getting into the fault question. The why and how we can solve it because “I want to build and why can’t I”. Of course, there was blood on his hands, but for me it could be anything big or small.
No, I love the beauty of what is in the story and the simple strategy that can be learned from it.

David did not leave a complete building to His son, but provided the materials for the son TO BUILD IT!

Well, lets get back to the hallway of that school and the converation…. We discovered a great truth in it!
We need to provide this next, strong and powerful generation with the “building materials”!
We need to put trust in their ability to let them do the work.
We need to trust the way they watched us, as we discipled them with our love for The Father, our passion in our Worship, our eagerness for the Word.
They will reflect that by building the House!

Education is too much about letting them move within the boundaries of our conclusion as is stead we need to give them the trust of the heart and provide them with the materials so they can build! It needs courage to “let go”! We “build building” and they can only “live in it”!

I hope I am touching a subject that triggers you and help you to rethink… education, discipleship and even church!

David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.” (1 Chronicles 22:17-19 ESV)