King/Queen of Individuality Bible Talk Series
If you’re a believer of God, then you know that God created the earth and all mankind, but sometimes, when we hear it presented this way, we take it for granite.
We should realize it’s not only that “God created us,” but it’s also that “God created you!”
God made each person in a unique way. In His eyes you are irreplaceable! Through exploring the stories of various central figures in the Bible, we will learn about their uniqueness or special talents and how God worked with them based on those talents! This is in the hope that you too can realize what special quality or ability God has given you!
This week we looked at King Solomon. Who was King Solomon? He was the most beloved son of King David and was appointed by his father before his death to be the next ruler of Israel. So he had a big task at hand – rule God’s nation! Being young, Solomon did not know how to run the nation, so he decided to pray to God for wisdom! We can see this story in 1 Kings 3:4-15. Solomon offered 1000 burnt offerings, earnestly asking God each day to give him wisdom!
1 Kings 3:7-10:
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. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
God was so pleased with Solomon’s request for wisdom and told Solomon in 1 Kings 3:11-14 that he will give him a wise and discerning heart, along with wealth and respect which he had not asked for. Later we see in 1 Kings 3:16-28 how Solomon gave a wise ruling for the two prostitutes who both had newborn sons. One of their babies had died during the night and both claimed the living baby as theirs. Arguing before the king about whose child it really was, Solomon’s verdict showed how God was working through his wise heart!
1 Kings 3:24-28:
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” 27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
Through his wisdom, Solomon accomplished many things during his 40 year rule for God and also for the nation of Israel. He built God’s temple, he wrote the Book of Proverbs, and made fair judgments for the people. Other rulers were shocked and stunned by Solomon’s wealth and wisdom he had acquired! Truly, Solomon’s uniqueness was wisdom!
What can we learn from King Solomon’s story?
First, wisdom is discernment!
How do you discern what is the best option when making a choice? You should calculate what to do, reason it out, and verify if it is the best choice. Then you can judge well if option A is better or if option B is better. Analyzing each choice presented to you like this is wisdom.
Second, we should do things until the end!
This means if we make a plan to do something, we should carry it out until the end; only then will we know if our plan was successful or not. Stopping in the middle is like doing an experiment without seeing the result, so we can’t be sure if our hypothesis is correct or not. Solomon did things until the end too. He offered 1000 offerings until God finally answered him. That’s one a day for nearly three years!
Third, wisdom is seeking God first!
God is wisdom. Because He created all things in Heaven and Earth, He knows the best how things work and also the best path for our life. He also wants to help us go on that path. Therefore we should pray a lot and converse a lot with God in our daily lives. Conversing means to do everything while asking and telling God about it through your thoughts. Especially when making big decisions in our life, we should seek God, just as King Solomon did.
We hope you will take action on these points after learning about wisdom from King Solomon’s story! Feel free to share you thoughts in the comment sections below and subscribe to our newsletter for future updates!
Comments