June 12
1 Kings 9:1-10:29 | PS 130:1-8 | Prov 17:2-3 | Acts 8:14-40
If we could only maintain a sense of humility, a realization of how lacking we truly are. For it is from this mindset that we truly seek the Lord. We read the mindset of young Solomon in 1 Kings 3:7-9, "Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”" And from these humble beginnings God lavished Solomon with wisdom and so much more. I see so many "baby Christians" who have just entered into a relationship with the Lord. They can't get enough of Him as they are a sponge to His Word, seek fellowship (true fellowship), and seek to fill all of their time and energy in getting to know the Lord more and more.
Solomon was indeed blessed by the Lord as he amassed wealth, horses, chariots, buildings, etc., this despite God's warnings in Deuteronomy 17:16-17, "The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself." Solomon grew in prosperity and in many other areas, which unfortunately made him more and more self-reliant and less dependent upon the Lord. Such is often the case as Christians continue to grow in a church body. They begin to get plugged in to one ministry after another. They may receive a title or some form of recognition. Many can lose sight of that early hunger they once had, that simple walk they had with their heavenly Father and start to lift up their own ideas on theology, their "deeper" insight into things, etc.
What can begin as a Father and child experience of us hungering after God can change, if we are not careful, into a situation in which we are leading and asking God to follow what we are doing. This can be a dangerous slope to be on. The chasm between the Lord and ourselves in terms of everything is so wide. We get to be in a relationship with Him. We get to be poured into by Him. We get to receive His blessings, His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, His everything. All is well as long as we never forget this and always remember that it flows from Him to ourselves. We simply get to be His vessels. We simply get the Holy Spirit poured into us. The problem arises when we start filling ourselves with ourselves, our thoughts, our "isms", our "deep" insights. Time and time again we read in Scripture of those who did this and every time it ends up poorly. So, in church, when you see that young hungry Christian, this is what should be emulated, not them trying to become like some who can become stale over time, though still respected. We need to seek that child-like relationship on day one and maintain that mindset into eternity if we hope to be used maximally by our Lord.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: