Bible
Study: 1st Kings 3, 4 to 13.
And Mark 6, 30 to 34.
When we
read the Bible with a plain and open mind, there are certain truths that suddenly
jump off the pages. In the course of this week, we have brought out some of
these hard truths but I consider that today’s own happens to be the most
bitter. Why? We live in such a materialistic society that all our prayers these
days are direct opposites of the kind of prayers that please God.
I mean, if
God could be pleased by a particular type of prayer, then it is possible for
him to be offended as well by a type of prayer. Today, we read of how Solomon’s
prayer pleased God because instead of asking for wealth or long life or the
death of his enemies, he asked simply for wisdom, understanding and ability to
discern between good and evil.
Note that God
was the one who told Solomon: “Ask for anything and I shall give you.” In the
same way, Jesus Christ said to us in Matthew 21, verse 22: “And WHATEVER you
ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” In other words, we are
always free to pray for whatever we like.
But recall
that when a man met Jesus and asked him to come and settle the inheritance
tussle between him and his brother, Jesus responded in a rather hash manner. In
Luke 12, 13 to 15, we read: “One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher,
bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him,
"Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?" And he said to them,
"Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not
consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Do you
consider that each time we pray for riches, for wealth or other material possessions,
we are also offending God who has told us not to place our trust on riches? Do
you even consider why we do not receive immediate answers to such prayers?
The bitter
truth is that because we have made a god of riches, because we worship people
who have money, each time we pray for wealth, we are saying to God, “I don’t really
need you, I need money!” and because we cannot deceive God, he feels really
offended that we are constantly asking for something to replace him in our
lives. And we are all guilty of this!
Dear
friends, MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. The more of it we get, the more our needs
increase and the less satisfied we become. There are things that are better
than money, one of which is WISDOM; the ability to distinguish between good and
evil. To value wisdom more than money is to value God above everything else.
In our
Gospel passage the disciples of Jesus return after completing their assignment
of going out two by two into the villages to preach. From the angle of our
materialistic thinking today, one would have expected that Jesus would share
out large sums of money to them as their reward, instead he says to them, “come
to a lonely place and rest.” The whole idea of a lonely place is to have quiet
time with God for prayer and impartation of wisdom. This is why Jesus takes
time to teach the crowd many things upon arriving at the lonely place. By teaching,
Jesus increased their wisdom.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, may my prayers be pleasing and acceptable to you. Amen.
Saints
Paul Miki and Companions, Pray for Us.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy Weekend.
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