Wednesday, February 6, 2008
1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"
WISDOM UNTO SALVATION
Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were presented with three wishes -- or even one wish, for that matter? If there were no limitations of any kind, what might you request? For many in this world, riches, possessions, fame, and power would be tempting choices. But how many people in this world would choose wisdom as the thing that they would want above all other things?
As we consider the words of our reading for today, we see that God granted such an opportunity to King Solomon of Israel. In response to God's question, Solomon asked for a wise and discerning heart to lead the people of Israel -- a request that was pleasing to God. Once again, if we could make one request from our Lord God, what would that be? I think we would do well to request wisdom, just as King Solomon did, except let our request be that we are made wise unto salvation, that is, that we are kept in saving faith.
All good gifts come from God. God is the one who gave great wisdom and discernment for leading and governing to King Solomon; God is the one who grants the saving wisdom of faith to each of His believing children through His Word. However, saving faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that will produce benefits that will last beyond this life, bringing us into eternal salvation. Apart from faith in Jesus, every other good thing in this world is of very limited value because, apart from faith in Jesus, there is no salvation. As our Savior Himself said, "He who believes and baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
In the end, the one great thing that we really desire for ourselves and for others is saving faith in Jesus Christ. This is the most important request we can ever bring to God. This is the kind of request that is worth making to our Lord every day of our lives.
