The Wise Ruler Serves His Family, People, and Lord

When we think of wisdom, King Solomon first comes to mind, for Scripture says he was the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 3:7-14; 4.29-32). His heritage was marked by peace after strife in his birth, his kingdom, and his building of the Lord’s house, for he was the son of King David, a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) who nonetheless suffered the consequences of sin.

David’s lust for Bathsheba led to the sins of adultery, deception as he tried to arrange circumstances so that Bathsheba’s husband Uriah would think he was the father of David and Bathsheba’s unborn child, and ultimately murder, as he conspired to have Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11).

God’s judgment for these sins included the death of the child who was conceived in adultery (2 Samuel 12:14-23), ongoing family feuds in the house of David, and continued wars. Because of this blood on David’s hands, God did not allow him to build His temple, although He commanded Him to provide all the needed materials (1 Chronicles 28).

In His mercy, love and grace, God had given David and Bathsheba another child, Solomon, after the child conceived in adultery had died (2 Samuel 12:24). Many years later, when David was about to die, Solomon’s half-brother Adonijah plotted to usurp Solomon’s right to David’s throne. Nathan the prophet warned David of Adonijah’s plan, David promised Bathsheba that Solomon would reign, and Bathsheba bowed before David in deepest gratitude (1 Kings 1:5-31).

David ordered three of his most faithful men: Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to accompany Solomon to Gihon, anoint him with oil, and proclaim him to be king. In response, the people prayed to God to save King Solomon, they piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy (1 Kings 1:32-40).

When Adonijah realized that Solomon was king, he feared for his life, but Solomon responded with wisdom. He showed fairness by promising Adonijah’s safety if he proved himself worthy; justice by pledging that Adonijah would die if he acted with wickedness; and mercy by allowing him to return home when he bowed before Solomon (1 Kings 1:50-53).

On his death bed, David imparted words of wisdom to Solomon, asking him to be strong, to prove himself to be a man, and to keep the charge of the Lord. This involved walking in His ways; keeping His statutes (commandments, judgments, and testimonies); and following Him in truth, with all his heart and soul. In return, as God had promised in the law of Moses, Solomon would prosper in all that he did, and wherever he went, and his seed line would continue on the throne of Israel (1 Kings 2::1-4).

David also called upon Solomon to settle the score of the ongoing battle with his enemies, to reward those who had been faithful, and to secure his own position on the throne of Israel. All of these Solomon did with power and justice and without hesitation (1 Kings 2:5-46). His building campaign was threefold: his own house, the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem (1 Kings 3:1). In so doing, he was a wise ruler, showing balance in his priorities, initiatives, and resources. While providing for himself and his family, he did not neglect the safety of his people or service to His God.

Solomon loved the Lord, walked in God’s statutes that David had honored, and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings to God on the altar at Gibeon. There God appeared to him in a dream and invited him to ask for what he wanted God to give him. Solomon began by remembering God’s mercy to David, as well as His kindness and faithfulness to allow his son to rule over Israel, for David had walked before God in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart (1 Kings 3:3-6).

Next Solomon responded to God in humility, acknowledging that God had made him king, and referring to himself as God’s servant, as a little child, and as not knowing how to go out or come in. His desire was to serve his subjects, not lord it over them, for they were God’s people which He had chosen, a great nation, and a vast multitude that could not be numbered. He therefore asked God for an understanding heart to judge His people, with wisdom to discern between good and evil (1 Kings 3:7-9).

God was pleased by Solomon’s request, for many would have instead asked God for long life, riches, or destruction of their enemies. Instead, Solomon prayed to God for wisdom, and God answered that prayer beyond his wildest dreams by making him the wisest man who ever lived! God gave him a wise and understanding heart; so that he was wiser than anyone who lived before him, and so that none who lived after him could rival his wisdom (1 Kings 3:10-12).

As Jesus Himself said, if we first seek the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, then He will give us all other blessings (Matthew 6:33). Until we are saved by faith in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we cannot experience the wealth of blessing we have as God’s children (1 John 3:1), joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), and His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are then seated in heavenly places with Him (Ephesians 1:3), and promised abundant life here and now (John 10:10) and eternal life with Him and our loved ones in Him (John 3:16).

Solomon is a great example of seeking God and His will for our life first, and then receiving a multitude of other blessings. God not only answered his prayer for wisdom to serve God and His people, but He also gave him riches, honor and excellence above all kings (1 Kings 3:13).

Then God added a conditional promise: if Solomon would walk in His ways, and keep His statutes and commandments, as his father had done, He would lengthen his life. Upon awakening, Solomon went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered sacrifices to God. These included burnt offerings, peace offerings, and a feast for all his servants, showing his desire to honor and serve God and his people, as well as his household (1 Kings 3:14-15).

If we study history, we will learn that like King Solomon, the wise ruler of any nation, past, present or future, serves his people and their God, and not only his interests. Whether or not we are in positions of leadership, if we seek God first, He will be found by us (1 Chronicles 28:9; Acts 17:27), He will supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19), and He will use us to fulfill the amazing plan He has for our life (Jeremiah 29:11).

But there is a warning in King Solomon’s story. To finish strong in the faith, we need to grow continually in Godly wisdom, as we shall see in subsequent posts!

© 2016 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

 

Cisterns of Living Water

                                                                                                                  

  

Photo by hüsamettin_alpaslan 2011

I had a dream in which I attended a business meeting held in a shopping mall. I was unaware of the true nature of the meeting until I arrived, for I had been told only that it was to discuss an income-producing opportunity. I was surprised that those presenting at the meeting were women who appeared to hail from the 1970s, dressed in psychedelic floral or paisley print miniskirts or bell bottom pants, with bouffant hairdos.

The “opportunity” turned out to be door-to-door sales of waterbeds, to be purchased from these women acting as distributors. I knew this was nothing I wanted to get involved in, as the waterbed craze was over three decades ago, and I had heard bad things about them. Unless heated, they tended to be uncomfortably cool; they were bouncy and unstable; they were so heavy that they could put undue stress on the floor if placed in an upstairs room; and they might even leak.

Then I remembered that my husband had told me of a time when he went to clean out a vacated rental apartment, only to find that the former tenant had simply emptied his waterbed onto the floor, causing flooding, rot, mold, and water damage! Even worse, the sample that these women were showing us was made of thin plastic that already had small holes in it even though it had not yet held water!

So I politely declined the offer, and as the meeting was breaking up, a little girl I didn’t know came running up to me and threw her arms around me.

“Jesus loves you and so do I!” I told her.

“Then sing it with me,” she pleaded. I looked around timidly, somewhat reluctant to break into a hymn in a crowded shopping mall, but I couldn’t resist her fervent enthusiasm, and we began singing “Jesus Loves Me.”

As I awoke and pondered the meaning of the dream, Jeremiah 2:13 came to mind:

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

In the dream, the world was offering an opportunity of no value, namely an outdated, defective product sold at an inflated price by out-of-touch people who only wanted to line their own pocketbooks, and not benefit the sales people reporting to them or their customers. Even if able to hold water, the result would be a cold (Matthew 24:12; 2 Corinthians 11:27), unstable (James 1:8), heavy and potentially dangerous burden (Psalm 38:4; Isaiah 46:1; 58:6; Matthew 23:4).

Yet a little child was showing the way to the only opportunity of true value – to be saved by trusting in Jesus Christ, Who loved us so much that He died for us on the cross to pay our sin debt, and Who rose again to prove He is God and that through Him, all can have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16).

The book of Jeremiah begins with God’s great purpose for Jeremiah, whom God knew long before his conception and had preordained that he would be a prophet. When Jeremiah heard this from God Himself, he protested because he was only a child. But God touched his mouth, signifying that He would give him the words to speak, and promised him that He would accompany Jeremiah on his missions and deliver him from his enemies (Jeremiah 1:4-10,19).

Youth in itself is no excuse for not following God’s plan for our lives. In fact, Jesus loved children and said that the kingdom of heaven was theirs, and that even adults need childlike faith if they are to be born again (Matthew 18:3-4; 19:14; John 3:3-8). The prophet Isaiah foretells of little children fearlessly leading once wild beasts, now tame in the Millennial Kingdom where Jesus Christ shall reign (Isaiah 11:6-9)

Scripture says that children are the most genuine and perfect in their praise (Matthew 21:16). Samuel was another child whom God used as a prophet to bring His Word and foretell His judgment to a corrupt people (1 Samuel 3). The apostle Paul warned his protégé Timothy to continue preaching God’s Word, even though others might tend to disregard him because of his youth (1 Timothy 4:12).

In my dream, the child therefore symbolized the attitude of humility and trust we need to be saved by faith through His grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), and to praise Him and witness unashamedly of His love. She encouraged me by running to me and hugging me; I proclaimed His love for her, and my love for her which flowed from His love; and she encouraged me to join her in praise and worship!

When I was first saved I brimmed over with joy, zeal and excitement to tell others of the change He made in me (2 Corinthians 5:17. Galatians 6:15). Perhaps this child in my dream is a reminder not to leave that first love (Revelation 2:4), and to share it with others and to rejoice in Him always!

The Lord God raised up Jeremiah to warn His people of their wickedness, sin and particularly idolatry (Jeremiah 2), which violates the First Commandment putting God first (Exodus 20:3-5). He accused them of two evils: first forsaking God, Who is the Fountain of Living Water (Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13). Second, they turned to idols, which are like leaking water storage devices, or the defective waterbed in my dream.

Not only are these broken cisterns of no good, but their false promise of quenching thirst turns people away from the Living Water (Song of Solomon 4:15; Revelation 7:17), Who is the only source of eternal life. How often do the vain, empty promises of success, fame or fortune in the world lure people away (John 17:15-16; 1 Corinthians 5:10; Colossians 2:8; James 4:4) from true satisfaction and fulfilment (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4), which is found only in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

But through His amazing grace, once saved we can ourselves become cisterns of living water! (John 4:10-11; 7:38). His Holy Spirit enters us at the moment of our salvation (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), so that we can be a channel through whom blessings flow! Like the little child who knows that Jesus loves her, we can by praise flowing from the Holy Spirit, through our hearts and from our lips, bless all who hear us with the living water of His Word!

© 2017 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

God’s Love: Infinite, Unconditional, Eternal

 

As many prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we think about romantic love, and the joy of committing our lives to our beloved and anticipating the same in return. But true love is not reserved for one day a year, but should be in our hearts continually, regardless of the circumstances. Many couples began their marriage by promising to love one another for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until parted by death.

Most of us believe that we love our spouse, children, and family deeply, as they do us. We hope that should the need arise, we would sacrifice anything for their good – even our life if circumstances demanded it. But we pray to God that we would never have to find out whether our love or theirs would meet that standard.

In contrast, God’s love is infinite, which means He can’t love us any more than He already does, nor could He love us any less. What a relief to know that we don’t need to work at earning His love, for we are saved by His grace through our faith (Ephesians 3:8-9) in the death, burial and resurrection of His son (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

And similarly, we don’t need to walk on eggshells for fear of losing His love when we sin, for if we confess our sins, He forgives us (1 John 1:9). Infinity plus anything, or infinity minus anything, is still infinity.

We can’t begin to wrap our heads around the concept of how much God loves us. God Himself is Love (1 John 4:8). He loved us so much that He gave Jesus, His only begotten Son, to suffer and die in our place (John 3:16) so that those who trust Him would live forever.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, loved us so much that He willingly died for us on the cross to pay the sin debt we could not begin to repay. He loved His earthly mother Mary so much that in the midst of His agony, He arranged for His beloved disciple John to take care of her for the rest of her life (John 19:26-27). He loved those who crucified Him so much that He asked His Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34).

On the cross, Jesus was covered in blood, oozing wounds, sweat and tears, devoid of physical beauty, His human body brutally disfigured beyond recognition (Isaiah 53:2). Not the lovely, frilly sentimentality of a Valentine, but the gut-wrenching, all-consuming fire of self-sacrificing love that knows no bounds.

His death satisfied the demands of God the Father, Who is perfectly holy and just, while His resurrection allowed all who trust Him to live forever with Him in Heaven. How can we begin to comprehend that God Himself, Creator of all, Love incarnate, loved us, regardless of how much or even whether we loved Him? (1 John 4:9)

God has loved each of us since before the beginning of time. He has loved us even while we were His enemies and children of the devil (Romans 5:8). But once we are saved, we become God’s children and friends, and God then loves us as members of His own family (Matthew 12: 49-50).

Because God is Love, His love enters our heart along with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (1 John 4: 16). His love in our heart replaces not only hate, but also fear that keeps us from sharing His love and His Word with others. We love him, because he first loved us (1 John 4:17-19).

As humans, we experience different kinds of love. We may say “I love chocolate!” but that means a craving, preference or desire – not actual love. There are three Greek words for love. “Eros” means physical or sexual attraction. “Phileo” means brotherly love, or love that we have for our family, friends and like-minded people. Generally this type of love means that we have expectations of the ones we love – we treat them well, and we hope they treat us well in return.

But the Biblical word for God’s love is “agape,” which means self-sacrificing love.

The apostle Peter boasted that he would follow Christ even to the death, but when Jesus was arrested and crucified, Peter denied Him three times. But Jesus, because of His infinite love, not only forgave him but gave Peter three opportunities to express his love to Christ once He rose again. Three times He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” using the word “agape,” or self-sacrificing love. But each time Peter replied, he used the word “phileo,” or brotherly love (John 21:15-17).

Jesus told Peter that if he indeed loved Him, he should feed His sheep. If we love Christ, we can show it and please Him by sharing His love and His Word with others.

God loves us unconditionally, not in exchange for anything we could give us, because He needs nothing from us (Psalm 50:10). He loves us even when we sin or rebel against Him. His mercy spares us from the punishment our sins deserve, and His grace gives us blessings we don’t deserve (Romans 5:20-21)

Not only does God love us infinitely and unconditionally – He loves us eternally. He has loved us since before the beginning of time, when He conceived a special and perfect plan for each of us who would become His children (Ephesians 2:10; Jeremiah 29:11).

He loves us throughout our lifetime, saving us through His mercy while we were still sinners, and allowing us to sit in heavenly places with Him once we are saved. God will love us forever, “that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2: 4-7).  

The love of Christ, shown to us in His mercy and grace, lasts forever. Each of the 26 verses of Psalm 136 ends with “for his mercy endureth for ever.” It’s as if God really wants to emphasize that He will love us throughout eternity!

Once we are born again, God gives us eternal life in Heaven and promises to give us glorified bodies at the Rapture, so that we will live with Him and experience His perfect love, joy and peace forever. Once we are truly saved by making a heart decision to follow Christ, we can never lose our salvation nor God’s love (Romans 8:39).

In 1 Corinthians 13, known as the “love chapter,” the apostle Paul describes the attributes of perfect, divine love. It is patient, kind, long-suffering. It is not envious, rude, proud, self-serving, or easily provoked. It “rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

Paul goes on to say that of faith, hope, love, the greatest of these is love. Why? Because in Heaven, we will no longer need faith, for our faith will have become sight. We will no longer need hope, for our hope of the Rapture, glorified bodies, and eternal life with Jesus Christ and our loved ones in Him will have been realized.

But love? Praise God, we will experience His infinite, unconditional love throughout eternity!  

Copyright 2026

Laurie Collett