Wisdom Alone is Not Enough - I Kings 3-5 and Luke 20:1-26
God blessed Solomon in a marvelous way. He gave him more wisdom than any human being has ever had, and He added wealth and honor on top of that. God allowed Solomon to reign in a time of peace, and with all of this, he had a heart to love the Lord. Solomon had every advantage in life, but he ultimately failed to live a life pleasing to the Lord. He did not keep the covenant between him and the Lord, because He did not follow God's Word. How could this have happened to the world's wisest person? The truth is that wisdom is not enough. Even if we know what to do, we have to do it by faith to please God. Solomon did not do this. His life began with human politics, as we saw yesterday and in today's passage, as he married Pharaoh's daughter. Then, he allowed compromise to set in by worshiping at the high places instead of the Tabernacle. These unfaithful actions destroyed his life. These types of sins will destroy anyone's life, even if they do have a lot of wisdom. How are you doing in your life? Do you do what you know is right by faith or not? If your actions don't match up with your knowledge and wisdom that is sin, and it can sink your life.
Look at the Pharisees in Luke 20. They had God's Word. They had access to God's wisdom, but they did not try to follow God's Word. They were selfish, and they did what they wanted to do, in spite of the truth they knew. They knew the Messiah was to come. They could have verified that Jesus was the Christ. They knew what the Old Testament said. They did not want to trust Him. They wanted to use their wisdom to discredit Him. They did not act in faith. They acted in unbelief. Therefore, the wisdom of Jesus baffled them. They had the wisdom of Solomon and David and Moses, which is God's wisdom. It was written for them to read and to understand, but they chose to twist it and to act as they wanted. Please, don't condemn them too badly, because many of us do the same thing. We know they truth, but we do things our own way. That is the same sin that sunk Solomon and the Pharisees. Wisdom is not enough. We must follow what wisdom says to us by acting in faith. God is looking for faith, not just wisdom.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 6-7 and Luke 20:27-47.
Look at the Pharisees in Luke 20. They had God's Word. They had access to God's wisdom, but they did not try to follow God's Word. They were selfish, and they did what they wanted to do, in spite of the truth they knew. They knew the Messiah was to come. They could have verified that Jesus was the Christ. They knew what the Old Testament said. They did not want to trust Him. They wanted to use their wisdom to discredit Him. They did not act in faith. They acted in unbelief. Therefore, the wisdom of Jesus baffled them. They had the wisdom of Solomon and David and Moses, which is God's wisdom. It was written for them to read and to understand, but they chose to twist it and to act as they wanted. Please, don't condemn them too badly, because many of us do the same thing. We know they truth, but we do things our own way. That is the same sin that sunk Solomon and the Pharisees. Wisdom is not enough. We must follow what wisdom says to us by acting in faith. God is looking for faith, not just wisdom.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 6-7 and Luke 20:27-47.