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Today’s Reading : I Kings 10-11; II Chronicles 9; I Timothy 6

I have forgotten to give my background in many stories. The many times that I am re-reading through the Bible,  I have had exposure to these stories several times over in my lifetime. My grandmother was a preacher’s wife. So many of these stories that I am reading in the Bible I have experienced through word, song, and text hundreds of times.  I forget that sometimes this may be the first time many of the readers have access to the stories. 

The passages that we have today actually complement each other so well. The stories in the passage that we recount today are the one with Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in both Kings and the Chronicles, and Paul’s letter to Timothy.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Yesterday, after church, I was sitting with my children and recalling “The Big Idea”. It is really interesting how they are able to understand and receive understanding about the Bible and about the different miracles that are happening in the Bible. But one question I asked was “do you know who King Solomon and King David were?“ And to my surprise, they did not know. 

In Kings and the Chronicles, we are given a glimpse into the power and the magnitude of King Solomon and his wealth. We are also given a glimpse into how others can influence us or be detrimental to us. In the first part of both of these passages King Solomon is introduced to the Queen of Sheba. The Queen of Sheba is a well-known and very influential person in the historical biblical setting.  She is also very wise,  similar to that of king Solomon. In both of these accounts, she gives praise to God for the wisdom He has given to Solomon, and for the bounty and the abundance that Solomon has been given.  Then the Queen of Sheba returns to her home and kingdom. 

For many years that I have read this, I assumed that Solomon and Sheba were married, but they were just great friends, and held each other up to a higher standard. These are the people that we need to have in our lives. Ones who are there to acknowledge what we have done, but also to give us support to grow stronger in our faith and in our life.

In each of these passages in Kings and Chronicles, after the Queen of Sheba leaves, Solomon does not find contentment in what he has. 

“Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.”

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

 

To put this in perspective, a talent of gold was roughly 75lbs,  so approximately 4,950 lbs of gold per year, not including other gold that he received.  This is calculated at $112,988,904 per year.  Solomon reigned for  40 years, which would have been equivalent wealth minimum of $4,519,000,000.  This can easily be calculated to be more than any person before or after accounting for the conversion factors.    

But even with all of the wealth and wisdom of God, Solomon allows others to influence him and to change his heart. His relationship with God decreases as he gives his heart to other gods. How many times have we given our thoughts and energy to other gods(health, goods, status, fame, and time)? 

Being content is not about having things, but having a relationship with God who provides the things that we are in need and some of the desire of our hearts.  Contentment is about the relationship with God.  King David understood this… “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

 

God wants us to be content. God wants us to have the desires of the heart. But he also wants our relationship with him. Where we continually work on our relationship with him, we will find our contentment. There’s no amount of wealth of wisdom that can replace God’s connection and God‘s relationship with us. We have to renew our relationship with Him daily. It’s not a one and done. It’s a continual commitment even through the highs and lows that we connect with God. When we do that we are truly content.

Is there something in your life that you are committed to? Maybe it is a form of exercise, eating a certain way, doing a daily Bible study, or spending time with a specific person. To be intentional in areas of our life, it takes a certain level of commitment. I will be the first to admit that I am not very good at following through on commitments. When life gets busy and I get tired I can easily talk myself out of following through. But, I also know people in my life that are very determined and committed to things in their life. It is different for each one of us. But, there is one area that we are called to be fully committed.

“And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
I Kings 8:61

Above all other commitments in our lives, we are to be fully committed to the Lord our God. This was Solomon’s message and prayer for his people as the temple had just been completed and dedicated to God. His prayer was that the people would know God and His commands, and have hearts that were fully committed to Him at all times.

While all the people were gathered and excited about the temple for God it was probably easy to believe that they would always be committed and excited about following the Lord. It is easy to be committed in the beginning or while surrounded by other like minded people. After time passes and people begin to lose their motivation and excitement, the commitment begins to fade.

This might be the same issue we face. Sunday morning Church may get us excited and light a fire in us to share the love of Jesus with others and we are sure that we will follow through during the week. Then, as the days go on we slowly forget what we were so excited about. So, how do we continue to keep that fire and commitment outside of the Church walls? It is only by a consistency of spending time with God. This is done through prayer, reading God’s Word, praise, and spending time with others who have the same commitment to loving God.

When we fully commit to the Lord, follow his decrees and obey his commands we will receive blessings. Even when life gets hard.

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and he will help you.”
Psalm 37:5

“Commit to Him and he will establish your plans.”
Proverbs 16:3

The prophet Paul was a bad person.  He was a hateful Jewish follower that persecuted Christians, supported their arrest, enabled their persecution, and ultimately supported their death.  Paul, formerly called Saul, supported the stoning one of the first disciples, Stephen.

Yet Paul came to commit his life to being a Christian prophet and became one of the most prolific authors of the New Testament and led the massive spread of Christianity after the New Covenant.  For newer followers, the New Covenant was God’s promise to save us from our sins through our belief in Jesus after He died on the cross.

Paul suffered great challenges and pain during his life of prophesy of Christ’s doctrine.  In 2 Corinthians 11:24-33, Paul outlines the suffering he endured.  Paul said “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren.”

The most influential and significant prophet of Christianity was persecuted, tortured, threatened, is thought to have maybe been stoned to death in Acts 14 and revived, and yet he still prophesied his love, devotion, and service to Christ.

Pain and suffering builds perseverance.  Perseverance builds strength and resilience.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:12-13, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief.”

Paul turned to God to save his life, not on this earth but for eternity.  Our lives on earth are not always fun.  Blessings don’t always “flow” and happiness does not always find us.  We are sad. We are uncertain.  We are mad. We are broken.  We are addicted. We are scared.  The plethora of emotions in our daily lives is real.

Here is why I choose to trust God in times of trouble and unhappiness.   Pastor Andy Stanley stated in a sermon that “God allowed the worst possible thing to happen to the best possible person.”   Why should I question God’s judgement about when I am unhappy?  God sent His only Son to experience grave and unimaginable suffering as a demonstration to us that if we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we will live in eternity in Heaven.   How can we expect that the God we believe in doesn’t have meaning or purpose for the challenges that happen to us?

Faith grows through challenge.  Faith grows through sacrifice.  We appreciate the good times more when we have experienced the bad. Paul was a testament to that principle, and we can apply those same lessons to our lives.

 

Today’s Reading Proverbs 29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4 

It happens almost every day while raising children, especially in the ages of 8 to 14, when you tell them something, they always have something in addition to tell you. Upon first observation this can be seen as a sign of defiance. But when you look at it in a different lens, it can be seen as trying to help them grow their patience. 

I have recently realized and found a new understanding of patience and observation returning to community pharmacy and management.  There are many times you are presented with certain situations that arise and individuals want you to have a quick or rapid response. When you react without thinking it can create an onslaught of frustration and chaos. But in Proverbs, it tells us to have patience, which is not given to everyone. Patience is something that has to be learned and to be cultivated in order to be a better person.

Throughout the 29th chapter of Proverbs, we are shown many different ways of having patience. How to not be quick to react. How to allow God to work for us because the end goal is not for us, but for his glory. How many times do we engage with one another due to lack of patience? How many times are we pushed to certain measures because of lack of patience?

Proverbs 29 2- 20

2 When good people run things, everyone is glad,
    but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.

4 A leader of good judgment gives stability;
    an exploiting leader leaves a trail of waste.

7 The good-hearted understand what it’s like to be poor;
    the hardhearted haven’t the faintest idea.

8 A gang of cynics can upset a whole city;
    a group of sages can calm everyone down.

9 A sage trying to work things out with a fool
    gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.

    11 A fool lets it all hang out;
        a sage quietly mulls it over.

12 When a leader listens to malicious gossip,
    all the workers get infected with evil.

14 Leadership gains authority and respect
    when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.

15 Wise discipline imparts wisdom;
    spoiled adolescents embarrass their parents.

17 Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—
    they’ll turn out delightful to live with.

18 If people can’t see what God is doing,
    they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
    they are most blessed.

19 It takes more than talk to keep workers in line;
    mere words go in one ear and out the other.

20 Observe the people who always talk before they think—
    even simpletons are better off than they are.

In the 30th chapter of Proverbs, we are presented with observations. Observations of nature and observations of others. You can see that in observations, it takes patience to sit and observe certain areas in our life. What is God asking us to have patience and observe this week? What is God wanted us to see that he is preparing for us if we only wait for him?

Proverbs 30: 15-31

Four Insatiables

Three things are never satisfied,
    no, there are four that never say, “That’s enough, thank you!”—

        hell,
        a barren womb,
        a parched land,
        a forest fire.

Four Mysteries

18-19 

Three things amaze me,
    no, four things I’ll never understand—

        how an eagle flies so high in the sky,
        how a snake glides over a rock,
        how a ship navigates the ocean,
        why adolescents act the way they do.

Four Intolerables

21-23 

Three things are too much for even the earth to bear,
    yes, four things shake its foundations—

        when the janitor becomes the boss,
        when a fool gets rich,
      …
        when a “girlfriend” replaces a faithful wife.

Four Small Wonders

24-28 

There are four small creatures,
    wisest of the wise they are—

        ants—frail as they are,
            get plenty of food in for the winter;
        marmots—vulnerable as they are,
            manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;
        locusts—leaderless insects,
            yet they strip the field like an army regiment;
        lizards—easy enough to catch,
            but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.

Four Dignitaries

29-31 

There are three solemn dignitaries,
    four that are impressive in their bearing—

        a lion, king of the beasts, deferring to none;
        a rooster, proud and strutting;
        a billy goat;
        a head of state in stately procession.

In each of the proverbs we find that if we allow God to use us in the time that He has allocated for us, we can grow beyond our situations and become the vessels in which he has planned.  If we decide to pursue things without his consideration we will have different results which may not be fruitful and blessed.  Have a blessed week.