Ask and You Will Receive

1st Kings 3

Now this may sound superficial but I will be honest, when growing up I would circle all the things that I wanted the Toys R Us ad that would come in the mail right before Christmas. It was my way of showing my parents my Christmas list. The funny thing is that everything seemed appealing to me in that magazine ad. When Christmas day would role around, I would not get everything I would circle in fact I would get only a few things in there because my parents would ask, “Now Jon, what exactly do you really want?” I realized that I could not have everything so I would give them the top 5 things I would want. It was cool because I would at least get one of those things if not more. 

In this chapter we are still following the newly anointed king, Solomon, David’s son. Because the people were sacrificing to God at the high places and because there was no house for God or the Ark, Solomon wanted to build one. We see God has a little talk with Solomon and it is a great question the Lord wants to ask.

Solomon Doing Good

In verse 3 it says, Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of David his father. While he was at Gibeon offering a sacrifice to the Lord, the Lord appeared to him in a dream. God asked a very specific question, “Ask what I shall give you?” God was throwing it out to Solomon, “Dude, I am infinite in what I can give, try me.” I wonder what went through Solomon’s mind, the universe and what God was offering was right in front of him, it was endless in what could have been given. Solomon’s answer was great. He asked God to give him wisdom so he could discern for the people. He just wanted to be able to be a good king. God said, “Because you asked for this and not for long life or riches or the life of your enemies,  I will give you wisdom and all these other things as well.”

God was in a way testing Solomon to see what he would ask for and he chose something that would benefit the people. 

Solomon Received Wisdom

In verses 16 through 28 we see that Solomon was put to the test to see how wise he really is. Two women come to him with the issue over whose baby is it. They both claimed the baby that was alive was both of theirs. Solomon then said, “Bring me a sword because I will cut the baby in half and you both can have the baby.” The woman whose child it was said, “Please do not kill the child but give it to the other lady.” Solomon realized whose child it was by the response of the two woman. Because of this act, his wisdom that God gave spread through the land and surrounding nations.

Ask, Seek, and Knock

Jesus spoke of these words in Matthew 7:7-11. He was speaking to the multitude and showing them how great God is. Some people take this portion of scripture and view God as a genie in a bottle. They can ask whatever they want and they will give it. We need to understand God is a wholly good God who will give things that bring about good. He will give things that are according to his will and not ours. In the later part of that section Jesus mentioned how parents would not give a rock for their children to eat when they asked for food because they were hungry. Well, we sometimes could be the children asking God for the rock to eat. He is no, I am not going to give you the rock, it is bad for you. We may not understand but God is watching out for us. Ask of God, seek God and knock after him, it is not about stuff but about Him. That is what it is all about.

Take Care of Business

1st Kings 2

David was on his death bed and knew that he needed to advise his son, soon to be king with the right instructions. These instructions were not special words of wisdom for his son when he becomes king; instead David asked his son to were ones that any young man, any child, any daughter, any young woman, anyone should listen to.

He said, “Keep the charge of the Lord, walk in his ways and keep his statutes.” This was something that any father would want his children to follow. I know this is my prayer with my daughter, that when she grows up that she would follow after the Lord and not fall away. I think any Christian parent would desire this of their child. 

There is some other unfinished business that Solomon would need to take care for his father David. 

Taking Care of Business

David asked that Joab would be taken care of. This was not a vengeful act but because Joab murdered two men of the kings service. Joab killed Abner and Amasa when David was trying to bring peace between Israel and Judah when they were fighting. 

David then asked for him to deal loyally to Barzilla because he showed kindness to him while he was on the run from Absalom. Then Shimei the man who decided to curse at David when he fled from his son, Solomon was commanded to not kill him but be watchful of him. The reason why David said this was because he did not want these men becoming his problem. He knew that they would and could hurt him and the kingdom more so than they did for him.

David died and was laid to rest with his fathers and Solomon took the throne. As soon as Solomon took the throne he did not waste anytime fulfilling his father’s wishes. Everything that David asked came to pass through Solomon. We will read more on what the future has for Solomon, it is a great read and learning experience through the life of this wise man.

As Christian we need to get rid of the business of sin in our life. We may have some unfinished closet sin that we need to confront and cry out for God to relieve us of. I know how it is to let the sin that we may not want to admit to or let Christ take complete control of. What happens is that it begins to fester in us and borough  and cling inside of us. Sin wants to fight to reign in our life just like a virus trying to live inside your body. The author of Hebrews said it best that we need to get rid of or throw sin and anything that slows us down. I am thankful that God has been patient as well as very gracious on me and forgiving me of the sin that I did not want to get rid of right away. Thank you God for the conviction of sin through the Holy Spirit. David was smart because he knew what could result if these trouble people would have stayed around. We need to be smart and realize that if we let sin reign in us what will happen. Jesus Christ is the only answer for the deleting of sin. He is the only one that can offer the right medicine to get the virus of sin out of us. He is the only one that paid that great high price to purchase us from the rule of sin and death in our life. I have been bought and paid for, our you?