King Solomon Had it All

When Solomon became King of Israel, he had one prayer--that God would give him wisdom and discernment to govern His people. God said since he didn't ask for wealth, long life or victory over his enemies, he would have all those as well as wisdom. He was the wisest of all the leaders before or since his reign.

King Solomon succeeded his first twenty years, but he failed his last twenty. Do you know why? Because he disobeyed God. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, God commanded him not to multiply horses or to lead his people back to Egypt to get more, but he did. The possession of many horses was a measure of a king's political power.

God also commanded King Solomon not to have many wives, but he did. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. That's a lot of wives and a lot of kids! Image if they all had Macy's credit cards. King Solomon loved all his wives and he married many foreign wives for political protection from their countries. He grew to worship their gods and practice their customs, two things God hated.

God commanded King Solomon not to accumulate a lot of silver and gold, but he did. His annual income was 1.6 billion dollars, three thousand years ago. That is a lot of wealth!

So King Solomon had it all--power, women and wealth. He didn't have purity or a dependence on God. Instead of trusting God, he trusted in his power, possessions and wives. Do you know what King Solomon concluded in his old age? That everything in life was meaningless without God. He had all the worldly treasures a man could dream of but they counted for nothing.

Think About It
The cure for a meaningless life is clinging to God, loving Him more than anything. When we do, we will love others and our lives will have meaning, hope and purpose.

Pray About It
Teach me your ways O God. Show me your paths and help me live according to your will and plan. Amen.

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

Jacob had twelve sons, but he loved Joseph the most and made a royal coat for him. He crafted strips of red and gold, blue and green, orange and brown into a beautiful robe with a golden sash. He decorated the front edges with rich embroidery. Joseph made his brothers jealous when he paraded in front of them wearing his coat of many colors. They wondered why Jacob didn't make coats for each of them.

As if that wasn't enough, Joseph had dreams--big dreams. He dreamed that someday his whole family would bow down to him. This made his brothers angry with him, so angry they wanted to kill him. Instead they threw him in a dried up old well.

"Get me out of here!" Joseph cried. So they pulled him out and sold him to some Egyptian slave traders. In Egypt Joseph worked hard for a man named Potifer. The man trusted him with his whole household.

Joseph was tall and handsome and caught the eye of Potifer's wife. She tried to seduce him but he ran away from her. She grabbed his robe, but he fled, leaving the robe behind. The evil woman used it in a lie to her husband against him. Poor Joseph ended up in jail because of things she said. While he was in jail he interpreted the dreams of the Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker. Three years later the Pharaoh had dreams that made him crazy. No one could interpret his dreams except for Joseph.

The Pharaoh's dreams foretold of a coming famine. He respected Joseph so much that he made him governor of Egypt. Joseph harvested and stored the food during the seven good years and managed the food during the seven years when the fields yielded no grain and the livestock died. People had to come from many surrounding towns to Egypt to get grain for food.

Guess who showed up in front of Joseph. Yep! His brothers. He recognized them but they didn't recognize him in his Egyptian clothes and headdress. Do you think Joseph forgave his brothers or took this opportunity to get revenge on them? Check back next week to find out.

The Burning Bush

Darkness filled the desert air and a cool breeze swished through Moses hair. He gathered his sheep close to him. "B-a-a," went the lambs. Then he saw it. A bush on fire but it didn't burn up. He sneaked up to take a peak. 

"Moses! Moses!" a voice thundered. His knees knocked and his teeth chattered.

"Here I am," said Moses.

"Take off your sandals for the ground where you stand is holy ground," said God.

Moses kicked off his sandals and bowed before the Lord.

"I've heard the cries of my people," God said, "and I've come to rescue them and take them to a spacious land flowing with milk and honey."

"Who am I?" asked Moses. "I can't even talk right." Now why would he say that? He grew up in Pharaoh's palace and went to good Egyptian schools. He grew up to be strong and powerful. He thought he could do anything. But God had him in the desert with helpless lambs for a reason. He had to teach Moses to trust Him with everything, because he would lead God's people out of Egypt to a place where they would not suffer from slavery.

God will rescue us from things that enslave us too, things that cause us to worry or stress or hurt. When we say His name, He hears us just as He did His people in Egypt. He loves us so much He promised to always be with us, and we can trust Him to keep His promises.