“What Shlomo had said in making this request pleased Adonai.”-1 Kings 3:10
I love the God pattern being fleshed out in Solomon’s interaction with the Lord when the Almighty appeared to Him in a dream.
We’re told Solomon’s response “pleased Adonai.”
As a result, the Lord made it clear to Solomon that because his heart was in the right place…
And that he only desired the wisdom to carry out the Lord’s Will…
Even the lesser things in his life would be added unto him.
There’s an inspiring pattern here I want you to discern properly.
The Lord says…
BECAUSE you have unselfishly sought for the things of the Kingdom…
THEN you will also get all of that which you have not asked for.
As I have made it clear countless times…
The Old Testament is the foundation for the New.
Where do we see this pattern revealed again in the New Testament?
In these very words of Yeshua from his Sermon on the Mount.
“But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness,
And all these things will be given to you as well.”
-Matthew 6:33
This teaching follows Solomon’s prayer response to the Lord perfectly.
In fact, several God principles patterned after Solomon’s prayer also appear in Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount.
Let’s take a look at them.
“No one can serve two masters;
he will hate the one,
and love the other instead.
Or scorn the second master,
while remaining loyal first.
You cannot serve both God
and money at the same time.
Therefore I tell you plainly,
do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink;
nor worry about your body,
or what clothes you’ll wear.
Isn’t life greater than food,
and body greater than clothing?
Look at the birds flying above!
They neither plant nor harvest,
nor gather food into barns;
Yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Aren’t you worth far more
than all the birds above?
Can worrying add one hour
to the length of your life?
And why worry about clothing?
Think about the wild irises,
and carefully observe their growth.
They neither work nor spin,
yet not even great Shlomo
in all his glorious splendor
was clothed like one flower.
If God clothes field grass,
here today and gone tomorrow,
thrown afterward into the oven,
won’t He much more clothe you?
What little trust you have!
So don’t live with anxiety,
asking, “What will we eat?”
or, “What will we drink?”
or, “How will we be clothed?”
For Gentiles chase after these things.
Your heavenly Father already knows
you truly need them all.”
-Matthew 6:24-33
Notice how the “seek the kingdom first” principle is inextricably linked to the principle that “you can’t serve two masters.”
Yeshua’s concluding thought is then…
“Therefore I tell you don’t worry about your life.”
The takeaway here is awesome.
Because Solomon chose to be a slave to God instead of to money…
The Lord added money to his blessings.
This is the opposite of how the world operates today.
The god we worship in our modern society is, without a doubt, money, and the more the better.
One final point I wanna make before closing.
Notice that becoming a “slave to God” is NOT the same as becoming a believer.
Did you catch that?
Becoming a slave to God is a choice you make AFTER you become a believer.
Or another way to put it, the option to become a slave to God is ONLY AVAILABLE TO GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE AND THOSE GRAFTED INTO THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL THROUGH FAITH IN THE JEWISH MESSIAH.
Ya feel me here?
Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior at some evangelical event ain’t the same as becoming a slave to God.
A total surrender of your life to the Lord happens after that.
It is the Jew or grafted-in believer who has to choose to serve either God or money.
This is a message for believers only.
Done.
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