What are you saved for? The right answer is, to further the kingdom of God to which I have been admitted by grace, and to serve its interests, and its Saviour, and to make him known. Secondly, to bring up my family in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and to keep it well housed and clothed. But first of all, to obey the Lord and to serve him. Problems came in for the Jews when they got their priorities mixed up, and they said, ‘We will put the temple on one side because our houses don't look beautiful enough yet. They are up, they are waterproof, they are sound, their weatherproof, yes, but they are not places of beauty. We have got so much to do: ornamentation, decoration, plasterwork, panel linings.’ When the priorities changed over, they were in trouble. The temple was down the line for a more convenient time. But that's what happens to all of us. Our priorities go completely upside down. In fact, one of the discoveries I made as a young Christian was, in different churches there were different attitudes to dedication or consecration to the Lord, and there were churches where this was optional.
How can I illustrate it? Well, you all know about the advanced driving test. Ask anyone about the advanced driving test, and they would say, ‘Well, I suppose it’s a good idea. I suppose it's a very good thing. I suppose it would make the roads safer, and reduce accidents, and make us all more skilled drivers. If I knew somebody who passed the advanced driving test, I would say, “Good for you”, but most of us will never take it, and we will never think of taking it. It's optional. It is not vital; it is not necessary, and we won't do it.’ To many Christians, Christian service is like that, Christian commitment, Christian dedication. ‘Oh yes, it is very good to be a dedicated Christian. Yes, that is excellent. Yes, that is the best. I admire dedicated Christians who live consecrated lives. That's very, very good, but it’s kind of optional; I can't quite attain to that. I am very humble, you see. I can't quite get to that. So I am happy not being a dedicated Christian. I won't make that.’ That is what many Christians accept as their standard. If you ask them to make an inventory of all their accomplishments, it would be about career and family, and what the children are doing, and how successful they have been. That's all well and good, but there will be nothing for the Lord. No Christian service testimony, no real dedication and commitment. At this stage for the Jews, a call comes through a seemingly pagan emperor. This is your specific priority and purpose: ‘Build the temple of the Lord’, and many of them went, and they took on the hardship, and the difficulty, and the enemies in the region. The people who remained help them, but more of them should have gone; that as the important thing.
John Whitcomb comments, ‘The last people we need to do the work are the self-motivated. God doesn’t need them to corrupt his work. This is to be a very difficult task. They had barely laid the foundation when the opposition began, and they became disheartened and did nothing for sixteen years. The difficulties were overwhelming despite their commitment. One thing is needed in serving the Lord: a dedication and zeal to God.’