Solomon was the wisest, richest, most prosperous man that ever lived! He was the son of one of the greatest kings that ever lived. What a resume!! God had amazing plans for Solomon no doubt.
But somewhere down the line he missed it. There is a very important lesson to learn from his life.
Solomon had it in his heart to finish off the temple his father David wanted to build for God. But as Solomon was building God says something pretty profound to him. It could of been a warning. Whatever it was it was profound. This is what God told him:
The word of God came to Solomon saying, “About this Temple you are building – what’s important is that you live the way I’ve set out for you and do what I tell you, following my instructions carefully and obediently.
Then I’ll complete in you the promise I made to David your father. I’ll personally take up my residence among the Israelite’s – I won’t desert my people Israel.” 1 Kings 11-13
Wow right!! Could it have been possible that Solomon thought building the Temple would bring him closer to God??? Did He think God would love him more because of what he was building??? Did he think God would be even more pleased with him because of this “great work” he was doing because it was great!!!????
How many of us are like that. We rely on our works and think that’s enough but it’s not. Your destiny is not determined upon how much you do. It is determined on your obedience to living according to God’s word. So for example, you may travel around the world meeting the needs of orphans. That doesn’t mean God is more pleased with you than with the person who followed the call of God to serve in his local church to be a kids minister!!! Being a pastor doesn’t mean God loves you more than a young person who serves in his youth group!!! What matters is if you are following the path God has laid out for you and if you are listening to Him!!!
And this is what I think God was trying to tell Solomon. Let us determine to be people who do what God tells us to do and who follow the path God has laid out for us.
Rolain.
kingspeech 