Wisdom and Understanding
Wisdom and Understanding
1 Kings 3
7“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern these great people of yours?”
Every person aspires to accomplish something great in their lives. No matter what field they’re in, talents they have, or passions they pursue, everyone strives to achieve something supreme. The hard part is, figuring out how to get there. The majority of us will simply ask God to place us exactly where we want them, hoping that his power can place us exactly where we want them. But perhaps this is the wrong approach to finding our way to success.
King Solomon was one of the richest, most powerful kings, most successful kings not only in Israel but of all of history. His name and power spread across all the earth. He has gone down as one of the best kings in history. But how did he get to this status?
At twelve years of age, Solomon was already King of Israel, a huge responsibility for him. A few years later, Solomon finds himself After giving sacrifices to the lord, God almighty appears unto him and says “ask of me and it shall be given to you”. Instead of asking for riches, wealth, power, fame, glory, or any of those things that a King would want, he instead asks God for wisdom? He asks for help to tell right from wrong, in effect saying “give me the wisdom to go down the right path, and keep me away from the wrong path”. The Lord not only decides to honor his request, but also gives him riches and wealth on top of it, saying that since he asked to be led, God would lead him to the riches in life.
What does this mean for us? Maybe instead of asking God for a straight path to our destination, instead of asking God to simply drop our needs directly into our lap, maybe instead we should ask God to give us the knowledge we need to get to our destiny? Solomon asked for wisdom, and it brought him to fruition. So the next time you kneel to pray, seek wisdom needed to work our way to where we want to be, the knowledge to not go down the wrong path, and the understanding to trust in his ways.
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