DECEMBER 26, 1 Kings 10:14-29

God was good to Solomon and kept all His promises. He made Solomon the wisest man in the whole world. God also gave Solomon riches and honour, “...so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.” (1 Kings 3:13) Yet, he soon turned away from God. Let’s consider how God had blessed Solomon since the start of his reign.

Look at how rich Solomon was. Can you imagine seeing silver everywhere you turn? There was so much silver in Jerusalem it was as common as stones! Every year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. What did he do with all these riches? He built himself a grand throne of ivory with an outer coat of the best gold. Even all his drinking cups were made of gold!

Solomon was also very famous. The Bible tells us that “all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.” He frequently received presents from people who visited him. They gave him silver, gold, clothes, armour, spices, horses, and mules. Solomon was a very influential and powerful man on earth! God made his words come to pass.

Yet, this paints us a picture of how being rich and famous can make a person quickly forget God. Instead of living for God, Solomon started to live for himself. Instead of following God, He started to follow after his own selfish desires. Solomon prized himself on his wealth, wisdom and fame. And because of that, he started to decline spiritually. How about you? Are you going astray from God? You know you are on a spiritual decline if you are spending all your time pursuing worldly things at the expense of spiritual activities like prayer and reading the Bible.

Thought: Am I on a spiritual decline that I’m not even aware about?

Prayer: Father in heaven, help me always to seek things above that are eternal rather than things on this earth that are temporal. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.