What are you willing to give over for God?
In our reading from the First Book of Kings this weekend, Solomon
is invited to ask God for anything he likes.
Eschewing riches and even the promise of a long life, Solomon asks for an understanding heart, one that will
enable him to be a just judge, that
is, one who lives justly as he brings life-giving justice to others. Solomon has a sincere desire to distinguish right from wrong, and, like
the psalmist, great love for God’s law: For I love your command more than gold,
however fine (Psalm 119). Seeing as
God sees, yet humble in his wisdom, Solomon will become a worthy priest-king,
able (for a time, at least) to shepherd his people with compassion and
care.
The theme of treasures more
precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces carries on into Matthew’s Gospel. Again, it’s about
perspective. Jesus’s parables highlight the
extent to which the characters will go in order to secure an apparent treasure,
including the possessions they must give up in order to do so. The merchant
sells all he has to buy a perfect pearl; the fishermen discard the bad, keeping only the best fish. Each of these stories highlights the act of
pursuing the treasure, its discovery, and the joy that treasure brings; it also
points to the sacrifice required in that process.
But what is the treasure at the core of Christianity? As Jesus says, it is the kingdom of God, a treasure whose supreme value surpasses all
other. And, as Paul tells the Romans, that
kingdom can be found most directly in our relationship with God, expressed in
our great love for him: all things work for good for those who love
God. If we give the pursuit of that
relationship everything we’ve got, if we live God’s kingdom every day, we will
know a joy exceeding that of any tangible, human construction – a euphoria of
the open heart, ready and willing to engage in relationship with our Creator.
So, what are you willing to give over for God? We might best answer that
question by first seeking wisdom, the understanding
heart of Solomon, by loving the law
of God’s mouth, learning to
distinguish the good from the bad, so that the revelation of God’s words may shed light on all we do… thereby
becoming the source of all joy in our lives.
This post is based on OLMC's Thursday Scripture class.
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