by Gary Kneezel

Power, wealth, fame, intellect. King Solomon had it all. People came to Solomon from all over the civilized world to hear his wisdom, have their questions answered and bring gifts. His kingdom was so prosperous that silver was commonplace. His importing, exporting and trading ventures were wildly successful. He collected horses and chariots like Jay Leno collects cars. He could do anything he wanted and have anything he wanted. Yet, apart from God, he found all of his indulgences and experiences to be meaningless and empty. (Read the book of Ecclesiastes sometime when you have a chance.) For a guy who lived 3,000 years ago, Solomon’s life described in chapter 10 sounds like a Warren Buffet/Bill Gates/Barack Obama success story. As the world views success, he had it all.

Then we get to chapter 11 verse 1 and that word “however.” The “however” in Solomon’s life was due to inappropriate relationships. A lot of them. A thousand of them. (Maybe we need to roll in movie star or professional athlete into our modern day equivalent of Solomon.) Not one for doing things in a small way, Solomon took 700 royal wives and 300 lower-class wives (concubines). What in the world was the wisest man on earth thinking (or was he thinking at all)? Perhaps it started as a way to build alliances with various other kingdoms. Ironically, it drove him to worship other gods and caused the forfeiture of his own kingdom. Because of God’s relationship with Solomon’s father David, He let Solomon rule until his death, but He told Solomon that his kingdom would go to a subordinate, and not to his son. Distracted in a thousand directions by his kilobride, Solomon was probably not a role model father. We can read the book of Proverbs as Solomon’s attempt to pass on his wisdom to his son, but as we will see later this week, it didn’t seem to take hold in Rehoboam. As I think about Solomon’s life and his relationship with God, it challenges me to think about my own:

• Do I seek to honor God and to serve others in the way I use the things with which He has blessed me, or do I expend them for my own benefit?
• Do my interactions with unbelievers tend to move them closer to Christ, or do they tend to move me farther from Christ? How can I make Jesus a key part of those interactions?
• Is my heart fully devoted to God, or is there a “however” in my life?
• What part of my life is most vulnerable to being compromised? (Psalm 139:23-24)
• Do I willingly limit my self indulgence? Would an accountability partner be able to help me in this?
• Do I seek God’s presence daily, or do I try to slide by based on a past close relationship with Him?
• Do I see God as the Lord of my life in practice, or only in theory?
 

A fellow traveler,
Gary