The Temple in Thine Heart

"Whereas it was in thine heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart." I Kings 8:18

My friend Joe suggested I check out a collection of old sermons by Clovis G. Chappell titled, "Familiar Failures." The book was published in 1928 when Chappell was the pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Memphis. Joe is a neat guy so I got the book and began to read.

Chappell had a sermon in the collection called, "The Successful Failure." It was based on the story of David and his desire to build a Temple for the Name. He was not allowed to do this but God affirmed the desire in his heart. Chappell wrote -

"He measures us not by our achievements, but by our longings to achieve. He judges us not by what we have in our hands, but by what we have in our hearts. He crowns us not for the great task that we have acctually accomplished, but for the great task that we long to accomplish."

Falling short of a great goal is not a bad thing. How have I sinned by refusing to dream? I have asked myself, "Is there a Temple in my heart?" What about you?