We’ve just had an amazing holiday. Four of the highlights of our holiday involved water. In each case the area immediately around the water was really dry. The water had either travelled long distances in creeks and rivers or had come from deep underground. The results were amazing.
The life and beauty generated by the water attracts people from all over our country to these places. The vegetation, birds, and fish that are part of the spectacle are all dependent on the water but, no doubt, don’t give it a thought, just take it for granted.
We’re also dependent on water and can’t live without it. We might also take that for granted but we shouldn’t.
Water is one of God’s good gifts. All the water we saw on our holiday fell as rain at some stage even if it was no where near where we saw it or many years before. Without continuing rain all these places would eventually go dry. Thank God for his life-giving rains.
God declares his commitment to supply the needy with water through the prophet Isaiah. He says,
When the poor and needy are dying of thirst and cannot find water, I, the Lord God of Israel, will come to their rescue. I won’t forget them. I will make rivers flow on mountain peaks. I will send streams to fill the valleys.
Dry and barren land will flow with springs and become a lake. Isaiah 41:17f
We saw some examples of this prophecy fulfilled at Innamincka, Lawn Hill National Park (pictured), Dalhousie Springs, and Lake Eyre. Amazing!
Even more amazing is the living water that wells up within us, the Holy Spirit, to satisfy our spiritual thirst. John records these words for our encouragement,
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. John 7:37-39a
God supply your needs and quench your thirsts, today and always!
The dwelling place of God
by Linda Macqueen
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I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel (1 Kings 6:13).
Read 1 Kings 6:1–14
Finally, Solomon gets to build the long-awaited temple, a permanent place in which God will live among his people. It’s a picture of beauty and grandeur. The care and expense lavished on the temple reflect Solomon’s desire to give God the very best – a dwelling fit for the Almighty King.
But in verses 11 to 13, God interrupts the effusive descriptions of the temple with a timely reminder to Solomon: ‘As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfil through you the promise I gave to David your father.’ It’s as though God is tapping Solomon on the shoulder as he gazes lovingly at the emerging temple: ‘Don’t let this building steal your heart, my son. Don’t forget me, and don’t forget what it is that I really want.’
Then, as now, God was not seeking a magnificent temple so much as he was desiring relationship with his people and hearts turned towards him. A beautiful temple meant nothing if those within it did not seek God’s will or strive to reflect his character.
Centuries later, God would dwell among his people, not in a building, but in the person of Jesus – the Word became flesh (John 1:14). And after Jesus’ resurrection, God did something even more radical: he sent his Holy Spirit to live in us. Our bodies are living, walking, talking temples (1 Corinthians 6:19). Just as God once filled Solomon’s temple with his glory, he now fills our lives with his presence, shaping us to be people whose hearts beat in time with his.
Lord of Lords and King of Kings, as I gaze on the beauty of Solomon’s temple, remind me what you desire most – you don’t want things; you want me. Change me and rearrange me today so that my heart seeks yours, my will aligns with yours, and my words and actions reflect your loving kindness in your world. Amen.
Linda Macqueen retired in September 2025, having served 26 years as editor of The Lutheran and Communications Manager for the LCANZ. She has rapidly adapted to retirement, happily and energetically bringing her long-neglected home and garden back to life. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills with her husband, Mark, and with their household’s lord and master, Nelson the rescued galah.
What love looks like
by Linda Macqueen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him! (1 Kings 3:26b)
Read 1 Kings 3:16–28
I vividly remember this story in my Sunday school book, which featured a picture of King Solomon poised to cut a sleeping baby in half with a sword. I was horrified by the risk he took: ‘What if the wrong woman won the day, and the baby was cut in two?’
It’s true that Solomon takes a risk, but it is a calculated one – and it shows that the wisdom he’d asked God for is indeed surging through his veins. This wisdom is more than intellectual; it also demonstrates deep discernment of the human heart.
By ordering that the baby be divided between the two women, he exposes the true mother’s love. Her willingness to surrender her claim – the most precious relationship she could have – to save her child’s life shows the self-sacrificing nature of real love. The real mother would rather lose her son to another than see him harmed. The imposter mother, on the other hand, agrees to the division, caring more for justice as she claims, than for the child’s wellbeing.
This story points to the remarkable wisdom Solomon received from God: wisdom to see beyond appearances and recognise the heart’s true motives. But it also reveals something profound about the nature of love. True love is not possessive, nor does it seek its own way at any cost. Genuine love puts the wellbeing of the other first, even when it means great personal loss.
If we need an example of what that sort of love looks like, we need only gaze a little while at the cross.
Heavenly Father, thank you for all you gave up in exchange for my life. Help me to reflect that sort of selfless love today in my interactions with everyone I meet. Help me to put the needs of others before my own, not counting the cost. Amen.
Linda Macqueen retired in September 2025, having served 26 years as editor of The Lutheran and Communications Manager for the LCANZ. She has rapidly adapted to retirement, happily and energetically bringing her long-neglected home and garden back to life. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills with her husband, Mark, and with their household’s lord and master, Nelson the rescued galah.
What do you want?
by Linda Macqueen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong … (1 Kings 3:9).
Read 1 Kings 3:1–15
Imagine for a moment that God appears before you and says, ‘Ask me to give you whatever you want.’ What springs immediately to mind? Would you ask for your problems at work or in your family to go away, or healing for a loved one, or financial security, or perhaps peace in the world?
In today’s reading, God invites Solomon, a young and inexperienced king, to ask for anything he wants. First, let’s look at what Solomon does not ask for. He does not ask for the death or demise of his enemies (‘Give me a safe and stress-free life’). He does not ask God to cover Adonijah head to toe in agonising boils that never heal (‘Give me justice’). He does not ask for wealth and prestige (‘Give me power and security’).
Instead, Solomon asks for ‘a discerning heart’, wisdom to govern God’s people well, to do what is right. His motivation is not self-centred; instead, it is rooted in his awareness of his own limitations and his desire to serve God and others faithfully.
Solomon’s request delights God. God not only grants him unmatched wisdom but also blesses him with what he didn’t ask for: wealth and honour. The blessings flowed from Solomon’s request that aligned with God’s own heart – a humble desire to serve and lead justly.
We often come to God with our lists of wants and needs. There’s nothing wrong with asking God for help in all areas of life; however, Solomon’s story invites us to examine our motivations. Are we asking for things that serve only ourselves, or are we seeking what will enable us to grow our spiritual muscles and to love God and our neighbour more fully?
Father God, change my heart to match the desires of your own heart. Help me to seek not my own will but your good and gracious will – for me and for others. Help me to trust that, just as you did with Solomon, you will delight in giving me what I truly need. Amen.
Linda Macqueen retired in September 2025, having served 26 years as editor of The Lutheran and Communications Manager for the LCANZ. She has rapidly adapted to retirement, happily and energetically bringing her long-neglected home and garden back to life. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills with her husband, Mark, and with their household’s lord and master, Nelson the rescued galah.