seeking wisdom

During our high school class last Sunday (12/30/07) we took a look at I Kings 3. In this chapter, Solomon, who was just appointed king, asks the Lord for wisdom, and is granted it. He also resolves one of his first (maybe the first) dispute during his reign. As in many bible stories, it is important to see the truth in each passage for what it is, and learn how to apply it to our lives today.

Yes, we can note that Solomon doesn't ask specifically for "wisdom". Instead, he asks for a "discerning heart in verses 7-9. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Yet we can still say without a doubt that God granted Solomon wisdom to rule. And why? Because God was so pleased at the request. So it was granted atleast during the first years of his reign. This early example of Solomon settling a dispute between two prostitutes shows this.

Verses 16-28: One woman accused the other of killing her son by laying on him while she slept, then exchanging the infants while the first woman slept. But the second woman says that her own is the living one. How does Solomon resolve this? He gives an order to cut the baby in half. One of the woman was filled with compassion for her son and lets the other woman have him while the other woman agrees to cutting so that neither woman shall have the boy. Solomon's deduced that the woman with compassion was the real mother of the baby.

Yes, it seems a bit weird. And what if the two prostitutes responded the same way? Well, obviously Solomon would have had to think of something else to figure out the true mother. This is where we figure out how it applies to us today. Try and think of a tough decision you or someone else had to make. I heard a great example of this on a Relevant Magazine podcast.

That particular week they interviewed author Don Miller, whose most famous work is the book Blue Like Jazz. He said his friend was invited to another state to settle a dispute a church was having with the new Hooters restaurant that recently opened in this conservative community. There were obviously a lot of preconceived notions without any real talking back and forth. So Don Miller's friend went to this community and issued a challenge to both the church and the restaurant- to raise the most amount of money for a certain cause (I can't remember which cause it was specifically). The Hooters restaurant ended up raising more money than the church. So while there may not be good friends between the two sides, it atleast dispelled the preconceived notions and got people to start talking.

What's one area of your life you can start applying more wisdom to? Let's ask the Lord for wisdom and go through life more intelligently.

During our middle school class, we watched the first episode of a great new tween series called Angel Wars. This is for those pre-teens who are into shows like Naruto. But these episodes combine great animated action with biblical principles. The first episode dealt with self-esteem and looks. I encourage you all to check it out. They can be purchased at your local Christian bookstore or online at their website.