I can't believe Solomon! He is such a great example at this point in his life. I know he had the whole lust issue, but I don't know that I can top this. I'm reading 1 Kings 3:4-15 and God comes to Solomon in a dream and asks him to ask for anything. Anything! I can think of a few things that I would ask for - a new car to replace my 1995 Purple Subaru (Also known to me & my friends as Sugar Plum Scary), a new house with more bedrooms, so A & I can have our space when she needs personal space, a new wardrobe, money for orphanages, an opportunity to travel, oh my list could go on and on. And I am not unlike Solomon in some areas. We are both young. He tells God that he is young and stupid. See, we do have a lot in common. I notice a big difference between Solomon's request, though, and mine.
Solomon asks the Lord to give him wisdom and an understanding heart towards God's people. He wants to rule God's people with wisdom. What an unselfish request?!? I am so convicted by his request. Yet, I realize that his heart is that of a true leader - the gifts that he is given aren't for his own gain, but for the gain of the people he is leading: The whole point of being a leader. The bonus: God also gave him everything else that he could ever desire because of his unselfishness.
Oh, Lord, that you would give us an understanding heart towards Your people and the wisdom that you gave Solomon.
Solomon is my favorite person in the Bible (after Jesus of course, haha)! But after reading about him, I realized I needed to start asking God for wisdom. I needed some advice and direction about decision I had to make, and I decided that instead of asking people for a million different opinions...I was going to take after Solomon and pray for God to reveal it to me. And He granted my request! It was incredible. Thank you for writing about him, Solomon was the man! :)
ReplyDeleteI love James 1:5. He just says that if we lack wisdom (which we are young and stupid so we lack wisdom), if we just ask Him, He will give it to us! I think that's incredible! You need to check out a podcast series by Andy Stanley! It's called The Best Question Ever. It's all about living by asking what is the wise thing to do? It literally changed my life. Check it out!
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