Value-full Living

1 Kings 9. God, to King Solomon, upon the completion of the Temple.

"I've sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel, make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I'm giving you: 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'

But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I'll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name.'" (Selections from verses 3-9, The Message).

Then, when predicting what would happen when people came across the ruins of the Temple and of Jerusalem and inquired of what happened: "'The people who used to live here betrayed their GOD, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshipping an serving them..."

It's clear that faithfulness to the One who rescued them and was faithful to them was key. The end of Chapter 9 seems to wrap up Solomon's response to this.

"Everything that had to do with The Temple he did generously and well; he didn't skimp."

Wow! Sounds great! Except sometimes what seems to be true covers up a dark side.

"At the end of twenty years, having built the two buildings, The Temple of God and his personal palace, Solomon rewarded Hiram king of Tyre with a gift of twenty villages in the district of Galilee. Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and cypress and gold that he had wanted. But when Hiram left Tyre to look over the villages that Solomon had given him, he didn't like what he saw. He said, What kind of reward is this, my friend? Twenty backwoods hick towns!" People still refer to them that way. This is all Hiram got from Solomon in exchange for four and a half tons of gold!" (verses 10-14)

At the very end of 1 Kings 9, we are told that Hiram helped Solomon get another sixteen tons of gold. With Hiram's help, Solomon amassed over 20 tons of gold! If "Finance Guru Google" is correct, that would be valued today at almost $1.3 trillion (rounded up), and that isn't counting the cedar and cypress wood. Twenty low-value towns could not approach an expression of gratitude for what had been done. The amount spent, and the amount Solomon saved, far exceeded the value of his gratitude.

It is remarkable to me that this part of the story winds up in the middle of all this. I feel it is important that this was recorded. Solomon clearly valued service to God, and gifts in His honor. Yet if we are to believe the values of God as reflected in His Law... love for God, love for people... it seems as if Solomon's lack of value to people undercut something in his life. Maybe this is why one can have a mentality that you can make an agreement with someone in exchange for a wife, something he would become known for. Somehow, what he saw and wanted, even what he saw as honoring God, clouded his view of people.

As I consider the Gospel, I cannot possibly value such a gift. Christ has redeemed us, a gift more valuable than we can ever repay or show adequate gratitude for.  How we live--toward Him and toward other people for whom Christ died, reveals how we value His gifts to us.

It is always right to honor and show gratitude for everything God has done. But if you believe in what He has done, and that what He has done flows out of Who He is, never forget that He is love, and that He loves people. Honor Him, and honor people. Show your gratitude for God's goodness in how you treat others. This will reveal a lot about you and how much you really love Him.

Jesus, you gave your life or me. You gave me freedom to live in gratitude and in generosity to You and Your cause, and to those You love--hand in hand! May I value You and the people you put in my life in my thoughts