A Word With Solomon....

  Having boys growing up on you is not easy. Being a parent in general is no easy task. Whoever stated the fact that parenting doesn't come with an instructions manual had it right. The only one I've found that comes close is the Bible. But even then, God gave us a lot of leg room. Sometimes it is easier to read word by word what to do about a certain situation then it is to seek for wisdom and guidance and then have the faith to follow through with God's direction. Solomon must have felt this way too and so I've been thinking about his life and ours.

 His life saddens me sometimes. To think that he may not have made it to heaven brings me to ponder on those things that weighed him down. He loved. He loved foreign women. He loved how they made him feel and how they looked.  He loved gold and all his cups were made of gold not silver because silver was not worth anything in his sight. He loved wisdom and had so much of it that he finally reasoned within himself about the futility and vanity of life without seeking God foremost. But his loves took his heart. They dimmed the vision and allowed him to deceive his heart!

   My older son and I had a conversation about being real a week or two ago. About serving God in earnest, without playing church. We spoke about the fruits of the spirit and works of the flesh. How hard it is to strive at being good in our own flesh! It is even harder to live in the Spirit ( I mean by this,doing the things which are pleasing to God) while feeding the flesh. We as humans learn very quickly how to feed the flesh, but sadly know little about dying to it. We feed it food, pleasure, satisfaction, material possessions. We love. We love the beautiful things. Desire wealth to make us blessed, and love those who love us best. But like Solomon our loves would separate us from His love. Rob us from our First Love and cause us to be just as idol worshipping as Solomon and Israel became. They mar our vision of Christ and fill our ears with so much sound that we can't or won't take the time to hear Him. All the while dulling us into the notion that all is well and Christ reigns, when the truth is that He can't abide because there is no room.

  Our conversation led me to this final point. We can't live by works because they fail us but we can't live without them either because that would not be faith. So we must live by Faith. Faith that God will save us. Knowing God will strengthen us. Looking to God who will lead us. Faith cannot be separate from our actions. Our works show our faith.They make us get up and seek God. Did not works show the faith in Solomon or any other man we are told about in the Bible? The righteous gave forth actions of obedience while the unrighteous brought forth works of disobedience. Both in faith. Some in a faith unwavering in a God that does not fail and cannot lie;others placing their faith in temporal things, the pride of life, and their merits.

   Solomon left us many words to ponder, and some of the instructions needed for parenting. Words of wisdom and truth that will last through the ages. What did hinder you Solomon? You did run well. And his words come back in wisdom and say, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."  Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14