Dear Church Family,
After salvation, what is the most valuable thing that a person can have? It is not Amazon stock or season tickets behind the Tar Heels bench. It is something that is sorely lacking today and has been throughout the history of the world.
When the chosen son of King David became king of Israel about three thousand years ago God came to him in a dream per 1 Kings 3:5 and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” How would you answer that question? My guess is that most people would not answer as Solomon did. He replied, “Give Your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
Solomon humbled himself before God when responding to the question. He called himself “a little child” who no doubt had seen his father carry out at least some duties as king. Yet he said he did not really know how to rule effectively. He saw himself as a servant. As such he realized his duty was to honor the Creator God who had placed him in the position of earthly king of God’s people.
God granted him the wisdom Solomon requested. Children learn the story of Solomon showed wisdom when two women argued about who was the mother of a living baby. 1 Kings 4 and 10 tell of how kings from around the world “came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom” with even the Queen of Sheba being overwhelmed by his words. Even in a time when cultures esteemed wisdom, it appears to have been short supply. Proverbs 18:15 follows the theme of that book’s call to wisdom with this insight, “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the hearts of the wise seek it out.”
God is not calling any of us to rule over Israel this side of heaven, but all of God’s people are to seek wisdom and per James 1:5 to pray for it when we seem to be lacking it. Paul prays in Ephesians 1:17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.”
Our world needs this wisdom. May we seek it, live it and have it used to the glory of God.
With great hope in His grace,
Pastor Gillikin