Living well

Solomon had it all.  Great wealth, riches, possessions and the wisdom he asked for at the beginning of his reign. There was no one like him. Even his people were happy.

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. I Kings 4: 20.

It all started out so well with Solomon asking God for the wisdom he needed. He built the temple which his father David had planned. During the building God encouraged Solomon

As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.’ I Kings 6: 12 - 13

At the dedication of the temple Solomon offered a marvellous prayer of dedication to God who appeared to him promising that if he walked wholeheartedly with him, God would establish his throne forever as he had promised King David (I Kings 9: 1 – 9).

However the wheels were already beginning to come off. Solomon took 7 years to build the temple but 13 years to build his royal palace. It would also appear that he got into debt with Hiram, king of Lebanon who provided the materials and labour for the building works. He gave Hiram 20 towns in northern Galilee (I Kings 9: 11) as collateral against the cedar and gold he wanted. These towns were not his to give. The land was not something to use in this way. Hiram was not happy with these towns but Solomon probably repaid his debt when gold was delivered by the expedition to Ophir.

Solomon had a great taste for the high life as the reading of I Kings 10 shows. Solomon’s real weakness though was foreign women which God expressly forbad kings to take. Not satisfied with incredible wealth and wisdom he took 700 wives and 300 concubines starting with Pharaoh’s daughter (I Kings 3: 1). God had said that these foreign women would lead the Israelites astray (Exodus 34: 16 and Deuteronomy 7: 1 – 3) because they would turn their hearts away from God and they did. Solomon started following other gods.

Solomon had it all. Unlike his father David though he was not ‘a man after God’s own heart’. In fact a reading of Deuteronomy 17: 16 – 17 with the instructions to future kings shows Solomon did everything he shouldn’t do.

Even when God became angry with him (I Kings 11: 9 – 13) Solomon did not repent or turn back to God unlike David who repented when confronted with his sins.  It is such a sorry story and yet one repeated again and again throughout history and in the church.

It happens when the focus of our lives becomes ourselves and not God. Solomon forgot that the purpose of his fame and wealth was so that God would be glorified and made famous. The purpose of our lives is to bring glory to God.

In the midst of the great materialism and wealth of the Western society and church, we are to live our lives dependent on God and reflecting his glory. This can be hard as we have so much it is easy to live dependent of God rather than dependent on God.

However if we make God our priority every day, if we seek to put him first as Matthew 6: 33 says: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, then we will glorify him and not lack either.  

Our whole lives, the way we talk about God and others, the way we spend our money, our attitude to wealth, marriage, fidelity, honesty, integrity, fame or in other words righteousness can and should be a great testimony to God and his goodness to us.

My desire this year is to live my life a bit better so it brings greater glory to God in all I do. What about you?

PS you may not consider yourself wealthy but try out the Global Rich List (http://www.globalrichlist.net) and see how rich you are compared to the rest of the world.