We continue the story of the family of King David, which we have been reading in recent weeks. In today’s lesson, David’s son, King Solomon, has just completed building the Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon consecrates the Temple in a ceremony for all people to gather and worship the God of Israel.

It’s often said that the Christian faith is caught more than it is taught…The world needs to see the Church as the place of peace, love, and forgiveness. For those outside the Body of Christ to see this, to believe it is possible, we must become better imitators of God, instruments of his grace.

God draws us to him, but he is not going to force us to believe. We must understand who God is and come to him willingly. He created us with free will. We can accept or reject God.

The phrase ‘be not afraid’ or ‘have no fear’ or ‘fear not’ occurs at least 80 times throughout the Bible. It is the most commonly repeated phrase in the Bible. God often uses these words to comfort His people in times of fear and distress. In those moments fear is replaced with calm acceptance of the protection of God.