“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and
Hittites;” (1Ki 11:1 AV)
The curse of a mind like
Solomon’s is that life is about gaining knowledge and experiences. The more the better. He is described as collecting all sorts of oddities
from those lands of whom he had dealings.
Not simply wealth. But variety of
wealth. The curse of a brilliant mind is
that if often become bored and needs to be stimulated by variety. This is a lesson to learn. God gave Solomon the desire of his heart and
blessed him for asking the most important thing. Solomon asked for wisdom. That which he would need the most in order to do
that which God called him to do. The
down side is, even gifts given by God can be misused if not disciplined by the principles
of the word of God. The reason Solomon
possessed many wives was the variety.
Not the fleshly gratification that may have come with it. HE became fascinated with their culture and
eventually their gods. A mind like
Solomon’s would be constantly curious.
This curiosity would be his undoing.
A relationship is based on
knowledge, yes. The more we know of a
person, the more intimate we become. The
knowledge we seek, however, are not mere facts.
We can read of those in a record somewhere. What we are after is not the facts of one’s
life, but how those facts or events shaped who and what they are or were. I am having a wonderful time talking with my father
of late. He is aging before my eyes and
I realized I hardly knew anything about him.
It isn’t necessarily the fact of him military service or his experiences
abroad that are fascinating. What is
more interesting to me is how he views those things. In getting to know the events of his life, I
get to know the person. In understanding
his family life before he met our mother helps to understand him as a
person. What separated Solomon from
David was how they approached their walk with God. The former had the incredible gift of wisdom
and processed his relationship through the use of the mind. And the over use of the mind. The later by the heart. David was a man after God’s own heart. Both are required, by the way. One cannot love someone they do not
know. But treating a relationship as a
mere curiosity may satisfy the mind, but it leaves void the heart.
Solomon’s blessing and curse
was the gift God gave. The gift of wisdom. How we use the abilities and gifts God gives
is important. They will shape our
relationship with Him. We may have a
gift of emotion expressed through verse or song. However, if it is not bound by the truths of
God’s word, it is mere emotion without truth.
It becomes shallow. God’s gifts
must be governed. Governed by the boundaries
placed upon them by the word of God.
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