Heaven Cannot Contain You

H – Highlight

1 Kings 8:27 – “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”

E – Explain

The context here is Solomon praying at the dedication of the temple. In his prayer, the king acknowledges that the temple is not a house that contains God. The Lord is too great for the whole universe to contain.

A – Apply

Obviously, this text would remind us that the Lord is not bound by the walls of any church building. The church itself is not a building but the called-out people of God united in Christ.

This text also reminds me that God is great, wonderfully great. The earth cannot contain the Lord. The heavens, the vast universe beyond our atmosphere, cannot contain the Lord. And the more we think of this, the more awe it should cause.

Declaring the greatness of God, saying that God is too big to be put in a box, is not a claim that we cannot know the lord or his ways. God has shown us in his word who he is. We need not imagine that God is not as he has described himself. But his power, his glory, his majesty all are beyond compare.

R – Response

Prayer: Lord, I praise you. Earth, heaven, and all infinity beyond is too small to contain you. Your glory is measureless. No box I can build would keep you. No limits my mind can imagine can hem you in. I am but your creation. You are Lord, Master, Creator, and King. I praise you. And I pray that you will shape my life so that I live to your glory and not with my mind focused on things that are small, petty, and insignificant.