Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Kings 3-4; 2 Chronicles 1; Psalm 72.
Solomon is remembered for his wisdom which was given to him by God. The first example in the Scriptures of him using his wisdom was in the dispute of two women arguing over which one of them was the mother of a particular child after the child of the other woman had just died.
“Then the king said, ‘The one says, “This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one”; and the other says, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.”‘ The king said, ‘Get me a sword.’ So they brought a sword before the king. The king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.’
“Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, ‘Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.’ But the other said, ‘He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!’
“Then the king said, ‘Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother’” (1 Kings 3:23-27).
To this mother nothing was more important than the life of her child. This is the characteristic that allowed Solomon to identify her as the child’s mother. The other woman had no regard for the life of this child. Therefore, she was clearly not the real mother.
Parents: could we be identified this way? Do the lives and well-being of our children take precedence over our own selfish desires? If not, we need to adjust our priorities.
Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 119:89-176
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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