WISER EYES

“In addition, the crews of Hiram and Solomon brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought red sandalwood and precious jewels. The king used the sandalwood to make steps for the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and to construct lyres and harps for the musicians. Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.” - 2 Chronicles 9:10-11

So here's a thought to start your day: Just because something looks good now doesn't mean it will stay that way.  The story of Solomon looks great if you just glance at it:

• Son of a legendary king takes over and asks God for wisdom to lead well.
  
• Gets blessed with wisdom and riches as a result.
  
• Kingdom grows. Everyone one is in awe. Unparalleled prosperity is the result... at first.

See that last part is the rub - things looked great... for a bit. They had the very best stuff they ever had as a people (verse 11 says "Never before had such beautiful things been seen in Judah.") We like nice stuff, don't we? The problem is, their illustrious prosperity-generating-ruler was about to lead them down a dark path of idolatry and even government sanctioned worship that would involve child sacrifice (see Leviticus 20:1-5 and 1 Kings 11:1-11).

Today there's a simple two word reminder for this SPARK: WATCH OUT! Watch out that you don't value prosperity and nice things so much that you go down the wrong road without even noticing. Watch out for evaluating opportunities and people by the allure of the good things they can provide when God's things may end up getting left behind. Watch out for the way nice stuff feels very "now" and decline often happens so slowly we don't notice until the damage is done.

Solomon was wise - in fact in Ecclesiastes he makes a point of bragging about how wise he'd become, all while 1 Kings tells us he was rapidly losing his moral compass and leading the nation to ruin. Today, you need to aim for better eyesight than the "wise guy". Don't get blinded by short term "shiny-stuff" - Keep your eyes on God's bigger picture.

​SPARK... and let the rest burn.