The Daily Word

King Solomon was probably the wisest man who has ever lived, although by the end of his life he had accumulated very many wives, so perhaps he wasn’t necessarily wise in every sense! The gift of wisdom was given him by God very early in his life and he used it to rule Israel as one of the best kings they ever had in their early history.

He wrote most of the book of Proverbs, which is a collection of short and very pertinent chapters and verses and is a distillation of his life’s wisdom and experience. Proverbs is one of the easiest books to read in the Old Testament and it has great practical advice for life in every way. It also shows and explains his close relationship to God and why that was so important to him and indeed in our times also.

One of his very typical pithy words of wisdom goes like this, “Every way of a man (or woman) is right in his/her own eyes, but the Lord ponders the heart”. We say and do things many times without thinking too deeply about what reaction others might have. Our motives may be mixed and many times not honourable and certainly not up to God’s standard of absolute perfection. He has the ability to see right through us to establish our true motives and measure them against His standard, and because of His eternal nature, that is the only standard that is unchangeable and unchanging over time and is absolutely righteous in every way.

Another of Solomon’s words about the way we humans live, and act is a very clear warning, “There is a way that seems right to a man (or woman) but the ends thereof are the ways of death”. What Solomon is saying here is so true. If we choose to live our lives without any reference to God or any involvement and relationship with Him, then we are destined for life failure, however much success in the world’s terms we might make during our lives. The only to a truly satisfying and joy-filled life is a life lived with a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church