C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” Solomon was living proof of that. As long he passionately pursued making God famous, his life was a blurry photo of heaven on earth. When his focus shifted from heaven to earth, he became a clear picture of the squandered life. As long as we make glorifying God the mission statement of our lives, we will gain something far greater than the ephemeral fame, power and wealth of Solomon; we will have gained the eternal joy of making Jesus famous.
Going Deep // Focus: 1 Kings 10:1, 4-5, 7-9
When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions…When the Queen of Sheba realized how very wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built, she was overwhelmed…She exclaimed to the king, “Your wisdom and prosperity are far beyond what I was told. How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness.”
There is nothing wrong with wealth, power and fame—so long as we use them to glorify God. If we have the right perspective in the process of attaining those things, and keep the right perspective once we do, then they will be divine blessings in our lives. If they change us into prideful, self-absorbed, pleasure-seeking, power-hungry people, then the blessing will become a curse.
We will see in the next chapter that the very things God gave to Solomon as blessings turned into curses. Solomon began to misuse them for his own selfish purposes, and they turned his heart from God. But I am getting ahead of myself. In this chapter, we see how Solomon’s great achievements brought great attention from people near and far. Kings and queens came from around the known world to interview the King of Israel, and like the Queen of Sheba, what they had heard of Solomon was not half of what they found. He was uncommonly blessed because of the favor of his God.
What was the secret of Solomon’s success? It was the very first thing we read of when the queen encountered Solomon on her visit to Jerusalem. His wealth, power and fame “brought honor to the name of the Lord.” (1 Kings 10:1) Once she realized how true that was—that Solomon was far more impressive in person than his impressive résumé—she redirected her praise to the source of it all, the God of Israel. Here was a case of a person’s fame being used as an irresistible witness to his faith. This queen, not a believer, as far as we can tell, exclaimed,
Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness. (1 Kings 10:9)
C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” Solomon was living proof of that. At this point in his life, his passionate pursuit was to make God famous. As long as his did that, God blessed this earthly king with heavenly treasure. Solomon’s life was a blurry photo of heaven on earth. When his focus shifted from heaven to earth (1 Kings 11), he forfeited the source of all that fame, the glory of God, and he became a clear picture of the squandered life.
Whether you become famous, attain power or amass wealth is immaterial, even though the godless philosophy of this present age will tell you it is the most important pursuit in life, that it is the determinative evidence of success, that it is the pathway to happiness. It is not. What is of utmost importance, what is true success, what is the wellspring of joy is making Jesus famous. Money, power and fame are a distant second to that. If you make the glory of God the passionate pursuit of your life, and keep it your focus even if God sovereignly gives you the other, then you will have surpassed the greatness of the wisest, wealthiest, most winsome human being who ever lived, Solomon.
Make Jesus famous. Make that the motto of your life—your mission statement, and nothing much can go wrong for you. With your one and only life, pursue the glory of God and you will automatically and always be right!
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