I Kings 3:3-15; II Chronicles 1:1-13
Intro: Wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn’t it be great to have 3 wishes, for whatever you want? I once asked our church family in Joplin to think that through – If you could have anything you wanted, what would you want? I’ll share some of their responses a little later. But I’ll tell you now that someone put down, “A new flashlight, because mine is broken” and I already knew that because they’re all broken! There’s no such thing as a flashlight that works, just like there are no actually live armadillos in MO – there are only squished ones!
But wouldn’t it be great…Anything you want?
For the next several weeks, we’re going to be looking into the life and works of King Solomon. There are a lot of life lessons to be learned from this king, and we’re going to begin them today.
Solomon comes on the scene at a great time of peace in Israel’s history, 970 B. C. The Promised Land has been settled. Saul, the first king, had turned aside from God’s plans. Then came David the 2nd king; a warrior and a poet. God called David a man after His own heart. He served God well, though he had messed up at times, and when his son Solomon came to the throne, the work of war was mostly finished. Solomon was handed a time of peace and prosperity that needed to be well-led.
There’s no temple yet – only “high places” where they offered sacrifices, and it seems that the main one is in Gibeon. There, at the start of his reign, Solomon offers 1,000 sacrifices. That was a good move. Solomon was obviously seeking something from God. Sure enough, that night, in a dream, God speaks to him and says, “Ask anything you want of Me.” (I Kings 3 or II Chronicles 1)
That’s why we’re looking at a genie this morning! It’s as if Solomon had 3 wishes given to him – except this was real, and it was God. God made Solomon an incredible offer. Ask anything you want.
When’s the last time that happened to you?
We’re not used to thinking this way. There is no “genie of the lamp.” If you’re like me, you can’t recall a time lately when God has come to you with an offer like He did to Solomon. So, right away, I’m asking, what about this story is any kind of help to us? We get to read about Solomon making a good choice and all, but I just haven’t had God make me this kind of an offer!
But, I started to think about what kind of offers God has made to me, and to you, and to anyone who will receive them. I just started listing the offers – the offers that God makes to us when we pursue a right relationship with Him:
Rest – real rest and peace
Life – full life and eternal life
Freedom – from worry, and from the power of death
Companionship – He’ll never leave or forsake us
Participation in His divine nature
Wisdom - if we’ll ask for it
Adoption – not just to work for Him but to also belong in His Family
The Holy Spirit – to reassure us, to empower us, to intercede for us
Heaven – to look forward to.
These are all some of the good things that God extends and says, “Ask Me for this. It’s yours!”
Now, I want to consider Solomon here in light of the offers that God has extended to us, and especially in light of the offer He gives us in prayer. Sure enough, Jesus said,
Matthew 21:22 - If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
If you could have anything you wanted, what would you do? Well, just in case that’s what all this means, I want to lay out some guidelines for what to do when God makes you an offer.
When God Makes You An Offer…
I. There are No Conventional Limits
When I put this question to a church family, some of the responses were pretty small:
• I would want something that would look like a little doll
• I would want a toy riding lawnmower
• I would want a little toy spaceship
• I would want a little bitty puppy dog
• I would want something Bob the Builder
Now, guess why those responses were so small - Because these were the thoughts of some of the smallest kids! Faced with asking for anything they could have, they just haven't had enough experience in life yet to think big.
I’m afraid that we too often are like that. God comes to us to offer us things too great for us to even think of.
• We want to have an easy life, a life free of pain, a long life. Jesus wants us to have life to the full.
• We ask for a vacation. Jesus wants us to have rest rest and real peace; real re-creation.
• We ask for freedom from stress and worry. Jesus wants to set us free from the slavery of death.
• We ask for more money. Jesus wants us to have real treasure in heaven.
• We ask for help fitting in with the crowd. Jesus wants us to be adopted into the Family of God!
Come to think of it, most of our answers seem small, when you consider asking God for them. Just how much is possible with God? Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 - "…but with God all things are possible."
When God makes you an offer, there are no conventional limits.
Our prayers should reflect that. Our dreams and goals should reflect that.
If what you ask of God is a God-honoring request, don't set conventional limits. Don't rely on conventional wisdom. God doesn't attend that convention!
How about we ask Him for something big…
o wisdom to lead in my home and in the Church
o influence to shape our community
o resources to accomplish reaching the unreached
o strength of character to go against the crowd
o power to do things for God that we could never have done on our own
I thank God for the people I’ve known or learned about who were able to set aside conventional thinking and conventional limits because of the size of the God they were counting on.
When God Makes You An Offer…
II. He's Watching for a God-Honoring Attitude
The Bible tells us to not get bitter or despair when we encounter hard times. Sometimes, God allows us to go through some difficulties to test us. But, sometimes He also blesses us to test us. How well have you handled God's blessings?
There's no greater test that can be placed upon a person's faithfulness to God than success and prosperity. Many of the parables that Jesus told were about people being given some blessing: a day's wages, a feast, forgiveness, a bumper crop, a bunch of money - and in each case, the person who was giving was expecting to see a right attitude in the person receiving. Some handled it with gratitude. Some handled it selfishly. Some looked at it for what they could get out of it. Some considered how it could be used to honor God.
You're Solomon. You're 19 years old. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You've become king of Israel. Your father David served well and left you a great legacy. God comes to you and says, "Go ahead. Ask Me for something. Ask Me for anything. What do you want?" You could ask for wealth. You could ask to just have a long, peaceful reign. After all, your name even means "peaceful." God had told your name to your father before you were born. But Solomon doesn't think of just himself. He knows he has a great load. He knows he's not king for just his sake. And by his right attitude and his request, Solomon honors God. Look at his response.
1 Kings 3:6-9 - Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. "Now, 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. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
When it comes to the things we ask God to give us, there needs to be an overriding criteria that accompanies our request. We need to start with a selfless attitude. James wrote,
James 4:3 - When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The key to this right attitude can be found in a verse in the Psalms. It was Solomon's father David who had written
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Wait! God will give you the desires of your heart? It's OK to ask God to give you the desires of your heart? Yes, when you delight yourself in the Lord. God knows that when our attitude is right, we're going to honor Him with good requests. If our heart’s in the right place, we’re going to be asking for the right things. We need to have an attitude that God is good, and that what He has to give us is good and valuable. Check your heart. God is. He's watching for that in you and me.
When God Makes You An Offer…
III. He Gives an Opportunity to Choose Well
You may have noticed, but the offers we get in life don’t come from just God. I get all kinds of offers every day. I must be a popular guy! Do you ever feel popular like that?
Every time you have money, you’re faced with choices. You can do different things with it. Like… The lottery. Millions of people are convinced that if they could just win it, if their ship will just come in, they'll be happy. Really?
In Denmark, when lottery winners were asked for their reaction after a huge win, only 26% said their 1st reaction was "happiness and joy."
John Stossel hosted an ABC News special on happiness. He interviewed several big buck lottery winners. Most of them said that the big money didn't bring them anything close to big happiness, and it often caused them unexpected problems with loved ones--leading some to the therapist's chair.
Virginia state lottery officials found in 1999 that of 300 millionaire winners, as many as 60 eventually encountered financial problems.
• 1989, Willie Hurt of Lansing won $3.1 million. Hurt spent his fortune on a divorce and crack cocaine. Two years later, he was broke and charged with murder.
• Dec. 19, 2001 lottery millionaire Phil Kitchen is found dead on his couch. He'd apparently drunk himself to death.
• July 11, 2002 lottery winner Dennis Elwell dies at work, shortly after telling a coworker that he'd drunk cyanide.
• Sept. 13, 2003 16-year-old British lottery millionaire Callie Rogers says, "Two months ago I thought I was the luckiest teenager in Britain. But today I can say I have never felt so miserable."
Too many of us don’t realize that God has placed before us an opportunity to make good choices. Why, then, do so many people choose so poorly about what matters most in life?
Not only can God do far better, but we would find that we do far better when we choose what’s really better for real life and not just stuff.
Solomon is a great example of this. He was offered anything. He could have asked for money; for fame; great health and power. But he chose what was better. He asked for the wisdom to lead God’s people well – to be a good servant for Him. Remember: delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Ill - I still have the first fishing reel I ever bought. I was 12, I think. It’s a Daiwa B130. I saw it in the store and I wanted it. Up to that point, all we had were old leftover reels from year ago. They were unreliable, at best. It took several weeks of doing extra chores, earning the money to buy my new goal in life. I kept going back to the store to make sure it was still there. Week after week, I kept saving up the money. Finally, the big day came, and Mom took me to Scottsdale Mall to buy it. All the saving and waiting finally paid off. I was not disappointed, but you know, I’ve bought other reels since then, and I’ve discovered that I needed other things in life besides a good reel.
Wisdom, for instance. Wisdom is a better choice than stuff.
Proverbs 2:1-6 - My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
When was the last time you cried out for insight? When was the last time you pursued wisdom like it was hidden treasure or silver? When was the last time you got out your prayer list and said to the Lord, “God, please, give me insight, give me understanding! I don’t know what I’m doing here! I don’t know how to be the best parent, I don’t know how to be the best spouse. I don’t understand how to get through to people! I’m wandering around down here. Please give me wisdom!”
Look again and again at what God offers to you. How often do you choose something that’s 2nd-rate instead? With what God has offered to you, He’s giving you an opportunity to choose well. Take it!
When God Makes You An Offer…
IV. He Gives a Trust to Guard
When we do choose well, we might expect God to bless that choice. We can learn that from Solomon. Did God give Solomon wisdom? Let’s see…
1 Kings 4:29-34 - God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore…He was wiser than any other man…his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
It’s clear that Solomon was given this. It wasn’t just because he had a broadband internet connection. He had the God-connection, and God trusted him with knowledge and the skill to use it well. He had made a good choice. He had made a good request from God, and God gave it to him.
But beyond that…
2 Chronicles 1:11-12 - God said to Solomon, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have."
Like Solomon, we've been given a trust.
It can greatly benefit others. It can be used selfishly. It can be taken away - instantly.
Like Solomon, we can take God's trust to us and use it, or we can choose to disregard it.
What have you done with the things God has entrusted to you?
For instance –
• God offers you a family in Him. What have you done with that privilege of being a part of the family of God? What are you contributing to that Family?
• God offers you rest. What have you done with the rest that comes from being in Him? Are you resting so that you can serve Him with more energy, or resting beyond what He wants you to?
• God offers you His Spirit, to come live inside you to empower you to live right. What have you done with that privilege? Do you suppress Him? Do you listen for His lead?
• God offers you freedom. What have you done with it? Is it the freedom that enables you to serve Him well, with great motives and power, or is it a freedom that you misuse to cover for evil?
Just like Solomon could misuse his trust, and later did, you and I have the choice of what we’ll do with the trusts given to us by God. He gives us a trust to guard.
Years from now, when history reflects back on you and your life, what will it record about the way you kept the trust?
Conclusion:
When he was 20 years old, while sitting at the family piano, a preacher’s son named George Beverly Shea started to prepare a special hymn for the Sunday service. On the piano he found a poem by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller. His mother had placed it there. He immediately began to write the music for the poem and used the song that same morning in his father's church service.
It was 3 years later, at the age of 23, that Shea had an opportunity that few people could have had. He’d been singing in churches and on Christian radio shows when a director of a NY network radio show heard him sing. The director arranged for an audition with the Lynn Murray singers. Shae passed the audition test. It was during the depression, and it was the opportunity of a lifetime. He would have been heard by large audiences, and he would have had the chance to make big money. But George just didn’t feel right about taking his talent into secular work. It was a tough choice. But it was a choice he had made 3 years earlier, when he wrote his most-loved song “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
George went on to use his talent for the Lord, and he reached thousands. He was given an offer. With a God-honoring attitude he chose well. And he guarded the trust of fame and talent that God gave him to use. Good choice, George!
Jesus is making you an offer this morning. It’s conditional – that is, it’s an “if – then” arrangement.
If you’ll turn your life over to Him, then He’ll make it new.
If you’ll acknowledge Him before people, then He’ll acknowledge you before God.
If you love Him, then He’ll come and make His home inside of you.
