King Solomon... Really?

King Solomon - one of the great kings of Isreal. Given wisdom beyond wisdom, riches beyond riches and with his wealth, built the house of the Lord, a permanent structure in which the Isrealites could go and worship God.

A man who had been twice visited by God.

"And the Lord said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have sanctified this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgements, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Isreal forever, as I promised David your father, saying, "You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Isreal." 1 Kings 9:3-5

A man who had been twice visited by God. A King who had been given incredible wisdom, wealth and riches. A man who chose (yes, chose) to allow his heart to wander, his eyes to lust and his allegiance to God wane, to say the least.

Did I mention yet that he was visited TWICE by God? Yet instead of being satisfied by His Creator, his heart lusted for beautiful woman after beautiful woman. It was these women, who worshiped other gods - false gods, created gods, who aided in turning his heart away from the One True God. The One True God who had given him all that he had and enabled him to be all that he was!

Do we do that?

Do we allow the blessings in our lives to turn our hearts away from God (um, see 1 Kings 11 to read how the umpteen wives and concubines were not blessings)? Do we understand that even the smallest of compromises can lead to the greatest chasim separating us from our Saviour; from the One who visits us?

I understand the world we live in offers temptation after temptation. I understand that there seem to be fewer and fewer godly prospects when it comes time for a lifetime companion. I understand that there are many things that pull us away from our God. But they don't have to! When we make the choice to stand for what is right; when we make the choice to wait on God's promises regardless of how long it may take for them to come to fruition, we can believe wholeheartedly that obedience equals blessing and disobedience equals consequence.

I hunger after the blessings the Lord gives out: the blessing of His Presence, the assurance of His Salvation, the joy of the working of the Holy Spirit in my life. May I never allow the material blessings the Lord gives me pull me away from Him. May I always be devoted to my godly husband and rear my children to love the Lord their God with all their heart, all their mind and all their soul.

May I be one who is visited by God, who tastes and sees that the Lord is good, and who never turns away from her One True God even in the midst of suffering.

How about you? Have you been sensing the Lord speaking to you about compromise? About whole-hearted devotion even when it's tough? May you see the rewards of obedience even in this week to come. Have a blessed Sunday. May you be visited by the One True God who loves you more than life.

Spring

It's happening again, and I'm beginning to see the yearly trend...

First Fall comes; during which time my thoughts I had that Spring of planting an abundance of tulips for us to enjoy the following Spring seem to go by the wayside. Then the long Winter filled with fun and frowns, finally giving way to Spring where once again I wish I had pushed myself a bit harder to plant that abundance of tulips, daffodils and hyacinthe......

It's during this time that I tend to strongly dislike my backyard, with it's muddy brown grass, weeds and sticks; children's toys that didn't get put away, trampled mud. Nothing green (of course) but also nothing that even looks like it could turn green and pretty. And then I get discouraged. How can I possibly tend to the yard, the house, the...... Does it all have to be my responsibility, I whine to my husband? All your responsibility, eh? He replies. It's at that moment I tend to slink away. Who am I to think that it's all my responsibility? Do I really forget each spring all the hard work my husband does around the yard and in the garage? Just because our yard doesn't have even a spot of prettiness after the winter? Ha, how prideful of me. How patient of my husband while I say to him, "I just can't do it all. I don't think I'll do a garden this year." But he knows. He knows how much I love to garden - the planning, preparing, planting, watering, tending...... The reward of canning salsa using some of my own home-grown ingredients and the satisfaction he knows I'll get from this.

And so here I am again. Sipping my coffee in the backyard with my children during their outdoor break and suddenly the ideas start to come, like tiny shoots of green pushing through the dirt and reaching for the sun. "Come walk with me while I think out loud!" I exclaim to my kids. And then I again begin to formulate ideas for making our backyard pleasant to our family, filled with flowers, vegetables and yes, perhaps we will do the pool again......

I wonder if this fall I will be able to push myself to plant the abundance of tulips, daffodils and hyacinthes so that come spring, instead of bemoaning the "fact" that I can't do it all (ha) I will look to the spring flowers which I love so much and recall how the soft green will soon cover up the harsh mud. And like the plants in my backyard grow under my gardening care, I will continue to grow under the care of My Gardener.