And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

 

Tuesday, August 5, 2023


Psalms 15; 16

1 Kings 3:1-15

Acts 23:25-24:9


And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.


There is nothing that excites that child-like sense of fantasy quite like the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp. Even as an adult, who wouldn’t like to be able to summon their own genie and have their top three wishes fulfilled? Perhaps, as we get older, the idea of a magic lamp turns more into the idea of the enchanted monkey’s paw; each time a wish is granted, a finger curls, and a curse is attached: a reminder to be careful what we wish for.


If we could ask for anything we wanted, in the full knowledge that it would be granted entirely, what would we ask for? Something permanent, surely. But the problem is, anything could be lying around the corner of the journey of life, and we don’t know what we don’t know. Solomon asked God for wisdom; understanding just enough of the immense burden of responsibility placed upon him as king of God’s chosen people, he asked not for something that was a one-off wish, but something constant, and permanent. God knows the way through; the best Solomon could have possibly asked for was for God to show him the way, to stay by his side, to never leave him to have to fend for himself. This is a request God is happy to grant to all who ask.


Even more spectacular is the miracle of the atonement. All through human history, from Adam to John the Baptist, humanity knew that it groaned under a curse. If God had appeared as a magical genie back then, the best any one of us could have asked for would have been some water to cool our tongue (Luke 16:24). For God to have come in the person of Jesus, live the perfect life, offer Himself as the perfect and final sacrifice, and then defeat death by resurrecting three days later is an act beyond our wildest hopes and imaginations.


Every day we go to our heavenly Father and lay before Him all our worries and our problems, asking Him to fix it for us in the way we would like. But He isn’t a magic genie, He is our loving Father who knows everything. He will give us what is best for us. And the best thing we can ask Him is for Him to stay by our side and show us the way home.

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