WHAT WOULD YOU ASK FOR?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families—and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.”

Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, Lord God, let Your promise to my father David be confirmed, for You have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

Then Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting. And he reigned over Israel.

2 Chronicles 1:1-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you could have anything in the world given to you, what would you ask for?

Would it be a mansion with acres of land and waterfront access?

Would it be millions and millions of dollars (or any other currency depending on your nation) to buy everything you have ever wanted?

Would it be unlimited travel to parts of the world you have always wanted to visit?

It might be a difficult decision to make with so many things available. The world has a lot to offer.

As 2 Chronicles begins, we find Solomon firmly established as king over Israel. David, his father has passed away, and the kingdom’s governance was in Solomon’s hands. It couldn’t have been an easy task as we know that Solomon was young and inexperienced but we read where David’s son became exceedingly great because the Lord was with him and made it so.

In return, Solomon ensured the Israelites kept worship central to their daily lives. Leading by example, he exhorted the people to join him at God’s tent of meeting at the high place at Gibeon, the place in the wilderness made by Moses. Although the ark of God was in the tent David had pitched in Jerusalem, the bronze altar was in Gibeon “in front of the tabernacle of the Lord” and Solomon and his Israelite assembly worshipped the Lord there, offering “a thousand burnt offerings” on the altar.

The Lord must have been very pleased with Solomon for we read that in the evening, the Lord appeared and spoke to him making the following offer:

“Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.”

When we looked at this question earlier, we saw where there could be many things we could ask for. So how would Solomon answer God and what would he ask for? We find out in our scripture passage and his reply might surprise you. For out of anything that Solomon could get from the Lord, the thing he yearned for most was wisdom and knowledge.

Now, I think I would be pretty safe to say that if we did a survey of people today and asked them what they would ask for if God would give them anything, wisdom and knowledge would not be in the top ten in responses. Maybe not even in the top 20. But for Solomon, he wasn’t thinking about what he needed necessarily for himself but rather what he needed to make a difference in the lives of those he was tasked with ruling. Solomon knew that the promise God had made with David was coming to fruition through him as he was made king over people “as numerous as the dust of the earth”, people who he was obligated to lead the right way. And Solomon knew that in order to do that, he needed wisdom and knowledge, and not just any wisdom and knowledge but the wisdom and knowledge that would come from the Lord.

So how did God respond to Solomon’s request? Our scriptures tell us the following:

“Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

In this reply, we see that the Lord is fully aware that Solomon could have asked for many other things such as wealth or possessions or honor or long life or the death of his enemies. But Solomon didn’t ask for any of these, only for wisdom and knowledge to govern the people he was king over. And so God honored Solomon’s request and then did something even more amazing, He added to the blessing, promising Solomon that he would also gain wealth and possessions and more honor that any other king past or present would have.

I don’t know about you but this resonated with me. What an awesome lesson the Lord is trying to teach here!

For when we stop being self centered and begin to ask God for the things we need to carry out His will, then we will not only be blessed with what we need to make a difference in the lives of others but also with the riches of the Lord for what we need. As I have adopted the life of Christ in the way I live, living selflessly and that goes for what the Lord has given me as well, I have found that I am never in need or want of anything. I don’t ask for an abundance but the Lord still provides it. And so I never need to be concerned with having what I need to help others. The Lord makes sure I have what I need and in turn, He makes sure my wife and I are taken care of as well.

Let’s go back to my original question:

If you could have anything in the world given to you, what would you ask for?

My prayer today is that you might have a change in perspective and answer differently than you might have at first. For God’s word shows us one thing that is certain: The Lord rewards those who focus on the needs of others ahead of their own.

Thanks be to God for this truth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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