OUR DAILY BREAD : WANDERING FROM WISDOM

[cimi]

September 22
Saturday


WANDERING
FROM WISDOM

READ:
1 Kings 3:4-14
____________________________

Give to Your servant an
understanding heart to
judge Your people that
I may discern between
good and evil.
__ Kings 3:9
____________________________

If God offered you anything you wanted, what would you ask for? When Solomon was given that choice, he asked for the wisdom to descern good from evil so that he might lead God's people well (1 Kings 3:9). "Because you have asked this thing," God told Solomon, "I have done according to your words." He even promised to give him "both riches and honor" (vv.11-13). To this day, Solomon is remembered for the great wisdom God gave him.

Solomon began his rule with devotion to wisdom and a deep ambition to build a magnificent temple to honor God. But something happened along the way. His passion for living by God's wisdom was displaced by the allures of the wealth and position God had given him. His marriage to foreign women who worshiped pagan gods eventually led him__and ultimately the nation__into idolatry.

The lesson is clear. Keeping our love for Christ and His wisdom preeminent is a primary objective for those of us who want to live to satisfy God throughout the course of our life. A commitment to following the riches of God's wisdom will enable us to avoid the drift that destroyed Solomon.

Keep your heart in tune with God's wisdom and obey His voice. That's the way to finish well. __ Joe Stowell
____________________________________________________________

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prone to leave the God I love;~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Here's my heart, O take and seal it,~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~Seal it for Thy courts above. __ Robinson~~~~~~~~~~
____________________________________________________________

Monitor your heart daily
to avoid wandering from God's wisdom.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Kings 3:4-14***********

4 Now the king went to
Gibeon to sacrifiice there....

5 At Gibeon the LORD
appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night; and God said,
Ask! What shall I give you?"
6 And Solomon said: "You
have shown great mercy to
Your servant David my father,
because he walked before
You in truth, in righteousness,
and in uprightness of heart

...7 Now, O LORD my God,
You have made Your servant
king instead of my father
David, but I am a little child
....8 And Your servant is in
the midst of Your people
whom You have chosen, a
great people... 9 Therefore
give to Your servant an
understanding heart to judge
Your people, that I may
discern between good and
evil..."

10 The speech pleased the
LORD, that Solomon had
asked this thing. 11 Then God
said to him: "Because you
have asked this thing, and
have not asked long life for
yourself, nor have asked
riches for yourself, nor have
asked the life of your
enemies, but have asked for
yourself understanding to
discern justice, 12 behold, I
have done according to your
words; see, I have given you
a wise and understanding
heart, so that there has not
been anyone like you before
you, nor shall any like you
arise after you. 13 And I have
also given you what you have
not asked: Both riches and
honor.... 14 So if you walk
in My ways, to keep My
statutes and My
commandments, as your
father David walked, then I
will lengthen your days."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Four hundred years of history of the nation of Israel are covered in
1 and 2 Kings (Originally one book), from the end of David's reign
wntil the Babylonian exile. First Kings 3-12 recounts the reign of
Slomon, David's son. __SKT