Wise and Discerning

You want something but don’t get it…You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1–3, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “Since you [Solomon] have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I [God] will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.” (1 Kings 3:11–13, NIV 1984).

Solomon got it right, at least in the beginning. He did not “ ask with wrong motives.” All he wanted was “a discerning heart to govern [God’s] people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (1 Kings 3:9, NIV 1984). A request that was born out of humility. “O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.” (1 Kings 3:7, NIV 1984).

Unfortunately, noble beginnings do not guarantee that we will finish well. Being “wise and discerning” and able to “distinguish between right and wrong,” does not guarantee that we will always do right and avoid wrong. Such was the case with Solomon. “[He] denied [himself] nothing [his] eyes desired; [he] refused [his] heart no pleasure.” (Ecclesiastes 2:10, NIV 1984). And not all his desires or pleasures were good. “In all this [his] wisdom stayed with [him],” Ecclesiastes 2:9, NIV 1984), but his actions betrayed his wisdom.

My Advice – Solomon, like all of us, found out what Adam and Eve found out in the garden. Having a “knowledge of good and evil” does not mean we will do good. Armed with this knowledge, all will choose to do evil. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, NIV 1984). Nevertheless, “a wise and discerning heart” will know that they can be “justified freely by [God’s] grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24, NIV 1984).

Knowing about this grace, however, does not guarantee justification. Redemption is only gained through faith. A gift from God. Freely offered. Free for us to choose to accept or not. We must choose wisely.