Adolf Hitler loved architecture. Albert Speer, his architect, writes that Hitler was forever coming up with plans for buildings and monuments. The drawings were not bad, but the designs dwarfed everything else. Hitler dreamed of making Berlin a partial copy of Paris, but making everything larger: a wider main boulevard, a taller victory arch, and a capitol boasting the world’s largest dome. These projects were never completed—but Speer built wooden architectural models that Hitler showed off proudly.
The ten-foot model of the capitol had a small balcony where the dictator could step outside and be seen by the masses. The problem, as Speer describes it, is that the proposed building was so fantastically large anyone standing on the little balcony appeared to be “an architectural zero.”
Solomon’s temple was one of the most famous buildings in history, its walls and ceiling covered in 45,000 pounds of gold paneling. And the wood, stone, gold, and other materials required for the temple involved a labor force of 153,600 men! Yet it boasted an interior of only 2,700 square feet—about the size of a four-bedroom house.
Are you impressed by size? God is not. Not the size of your building, your college, or your bank account. After Solomon’s temple was destroyed and a smaller one was to replace it, God rebuked those who criticized its size:
“Who dares despise the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:10.
How big is God’s temple today? It’s the size of your heart. As Solomon himself explained, no one can build a house for God—not even the highest heavens can contain Him. Be humble:
God is infinitely larger than every human achievement, rendering them ‘an architectural zero.’ We are INFINITELY SMALL, our achievements smaller still.
But the Holy Spirit uses us anyway!
God, thank you for inviting us to partner with You in Your work. Help us love better and spread grace and hope.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 