Another Walk to See

WALKING WITH GOD. No.31

(We now pick up and continue this previous series about ‘Walking with God’)

1 Kings 10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the LORD , she came to test him with hard questions.

OK, the Queen of Sheba almost certainly would not have walked to see Solomon, but I want to include her journey to see Solomon in these stories that can be used as analogies about walking with God. When Solomon had a dream and the Lord promised him wisdom, we find that God’s promise was even bigger than ‘just wisdom’, “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for–both riches and honor–so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.” (1 Kings 3:12 ,13). Time has moved on and that promise has been fulfilled. Indeed the description of him said, “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift–articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.” (1 Kings 10:23 -25). It was for this reason that the Queen of Sheba came. She had heard of his wisdom and wanted to come and test him. He exceeded her expectations: “Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.” (v.7). In a nutshell, the blessing of God on Solomon, His decree of goodness, was such that Solomon stood out in the earth, so much so that this Queen heard about him and wanted to come and check it out for herself.

This reminds us of the burning bush in the wilderness that Moses went over to see. That was something that stood out and required investigation. Solomon stood out and stirred kings and queens to come and investigate. The response of the Queen is obvious: “Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD ’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.” (v.9) She acknowledged that this was a work of God. There was no other way to explain it.

It may not be quite the same, but we see a similar level of blessing on Abraham’s life so that king Abimelech could declare, “God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you.” (Gen 21:22,23). That king recognized God’s blessing on Abraham and asked him to enter into a peace treaty. An individual man making treaties with kings??? If you look at the way that Pharaoh of Egypt welcomed old Israel (Jacob) and was blessed by him (Gen 47:7-10), you realize how God had blessed him similarly. But then there was Daniel who came to be known as a mouthpiece for God (e.g. Dan 2:46-48). These are all instances of men who walked with God and whom God blessed in such a measure that they stood out so that the world came to them.

When we come to the New Testament we find Jesus telling his disciples, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16). Now this is not quite a promise of blessing that brings affluence and the attraction of the world, but there is an implied suggestion that we can shine in such a way that people will be blessed and as a result of that blessing they will praise God. What happens when people are blessed? They feel good and they tell others who then come to see and find out and get blessed. Jesus is the perfect example of that. The Samaritan woman was blessed by the way he treated her and she went and told all her friends who came out to see for themselves. (Jn 4:28,29,39-41).

Somebody wrote, “Part of the reason for Christianity’s rapid spread, historians have remarked, was simply that the early Christians were such nice people. The very kindness of the Christians and their service to the poor and downtrodden attracted new adherents.” The rigid, cold orthodox Christianity that many in the West know doesn’t do that. Dare we believe and experience a new form of Christianity that is more Christ-like that attracts people by its love and its joy? Dare we believe that the world will be attracted when we allow God to lead us to the needy of the world, from whatever class or group, and shower them with God’s love and goodness? If we can, then there will be many more people who will beat a path to our door on this walk of investigation. May it be so!