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Scripture
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (NIV) ...Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

Observation
So much of what we see in the Old Testament is a symbol pointing forward to the work of Christ and life under the New Covenant. The imagery of this passage as Solomon finishes and dedicates the first permanent structure dedicated as the focal point of worship for His people is powerful. Just thinking about over 100,000 animals being sacrificed over a seven day period is beyond what our minds can grasp.

What specifically jumped out at me about this passage was that when all the work on the temple was complete, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. What we know with the perspective of history and the rest of the Bible is that the temple is a metaphor for US... we are God's temple, and He indwells us instead of indwelling a building as He did at this point in history. So the question for me is this... when God indwells us, does His glory shine out of us in a way that is unmistakeable? Do people see something so powerful in us that it points them to God?

Application
This really is a convicting and challenging thought. God's glory should shine through me so powerfully that instead of seeing me, people see God. May God make it so!

Prayer
Lord, indwell me and take me over to the point that I am lost in you, that your glory shines through me, and that people only see you when they see me.