What is Important

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

WHAT IS IMPORTANT

1 Kings 10:14-29

14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,   15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. 3 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift — articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. 26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore — fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue-the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

NIV

Solomon was indeed the wealthiest king who had ever lived. It is staggering to consider that his annual income was 25 tons of gold, plus all other revenue. When we think about all the things he had made of gold, and then the description of his throne, he had more than he would ever need, but maybe not more than he wanted. Solomon could not get enough of anything to spend on himself. He did spend some money on planting fig trees in the foothills, which improved the community, but most of what we are told is all the things he accumulated. He did export some of the chariots and horses to other kings, but everything was about making Solomon look like the wealthiest and wisest king ever to live. It seems to us that he would have been a very prideful man; even though he offered all those sacrifices when he dedicated the temple, that might have been more of a show of his wealth than actual worship of the LORD. We know how he became so distracted by his many wives, but we think his wealth and wisdom became distractions from his worship of the LORD. This could be the lesson we need to take to heart. We obviously have little; in fact, it might be considered nothing compared to all Solomon had, but in terms of wealth and wisdom. Yet we remain in the habit of accumulating possessions, most of which have little monetary value compared with what Solomon accumulated. Some have so much stuff that they pay to store it; in fact, self-storage is one of the fastest-growing businesses in our country. Things can be a distraction from our worship of the Lord, just as they were for Solomon. It's alright to have the things we do, but that stuff is not, or should not be, our primary reason for life. We know that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our Father knows what we need, even the stuff, and if we seek him first and foremost, he will add the stuff the world chases after to our lives. Again, that is not why we seek him first; if we seek all things first, we would be seeking the things, and he would be merely a source. Let us not become distracted from the source of life, our Lord. Of course, we have our daily lives, which include using the things we have been given by God's hand. We can even enjoy the things we have been blessed with by the hand of God, but there must be a distinction between enjoying what God has given us and coveting more and more of the things of this world. If we have learned that lesson God instructed us through the apostle Paul to learn to be content, whether with plenty or in want, filled or hungry, or whatever situation we find ourselves in, then nothing can distract us from our praise and worship of our Lord. Let us not become discontent, but live with contentment, because we are in Christ and He is in us. What else is really important?