The last month we have been going through the old testament. Today we got to King Solomon. Solomon was the Son of David and the beginning of a cancer that led to the exile of the Jewish people from the promised land of Israel.
Solomon started of as a Great King. He was wise and smart. I remember when I was a child, the first bible story I remember was of King Solomon’s wisdom. The story is told in 1 Kings 3:16-28. Two women called upon Solomon, asking him to determine which of the two of them should be awarded a disputed infant. Both mothers claimed to have given birth to the baby. Since they couldn’t decide, Solomon came up with what sounded like a logical idea. He suggested the baby be cut and split between the two women. When one of the women immediately understood that the beloved child would be killed, she no longer cared whether she got to raise him. All she wanted was that he be safe. The other potential mother didn’t care: she wanted her piece. Solomon decided the real mother — or at least the one who should be the real mother — was the one who would rather give up her child than see it be destroyed.
Solomon’s wisdom traveled and the Queen of Sheba embarked on a 3 year mission just to find out for herself if he was indeed as smart as all claimed him to be.
King Solomon also started out with a dedication to God, just like his father before him. God put his blessing on him as he built the temple atop of Mt Zion.
There was something else going on in Solomon. He began to collect Horses and gold and expand his reach. He sent Jews back to Egypt to get more, Became indebted to a neighboring King and enslaved some of his own people. These we all things that Moses warned his people of hundreds of years before. God had given Moses ruled for the Jewish people to follow if they ever took a king. King Solomon had also taken on 700 foreign wives on top of his 300 concubines.
King Solomon was bless with incredible wisdom, and was running the empire of Israel at it’s most glorious time. He started his race strong but his wives, all 700 of them turned his heart from God. He began to erect shrines to the gods of his vies on the Mount of Olives. God was angry and promised that he would tear the Kingdom away from him. His race ended poorly.
It does not matter how well we begin a race but, how we run it and that we finish.
It does not matter how my race began. The only thing that ultimately matters is how I finish. I will not give up, I will not turn, I will simply place one foot in front of the other. I will not take for granted the blessings that have been given me.
I have committed to running my race well and focus on the finish.
365 Days To My First Million. 