Then
came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood
before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman
dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the
house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was
no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this
woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she
arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine
handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in
my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning,
behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman
said, Nay: but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And
this said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.
Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king, The one saith,
This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other
saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And
the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the
king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose
the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her
son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no
wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine,
but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living
child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 1 Kings,
Chapter 3, verses 16-27.
This
story of Solomon’s great wisdom reminds me of when I was little.
My sister and I had metal globe banks. (I know this is dating me
some.) Our banks were kept at the top of our bedroom closet. I
remember climbing on something and taking the money out of my
sister’s bank, because I wanted to go to the “Candy Store.” (I
was oblivious to the fact that they sold anything other than candy.)
I
was almost out the front door when my mother stopped me. She asked
me where I was going and I told her that I was going to the “Candy
Store.” She asked me where I got the money to buy the candy. Now,
I thought I was pretty clever when I told my mother that Sally down
the street had given me the money, because there really was no one
named Sally. I had made it up. Well, my mother is definitely much
smarter than that! She told me that she knew Sally, and Sally had
told her that she hadn’t given me the money. Boy was my mother
ever quick on her feet. I had been caught in the middle of a lie.
I
think God is quicker on His feet than even my mother was! He knows
what we think and what we do. I don’t know why we make these lame
excuses. Do we really think that God is truly going to buy them?
“Ah, I’m not going to include this income on my tax statement
because Uncle Sam gets more than his fair share anyway; besides this
was just a side job for a friend.” Or, “I really like these fine
point pens they have at work. I think I’ll take a few-oh yeah, I
need them for a work project I’m going to do at home.” (I’m
guilty of this one.) Why do we even try these things? Who do we
think we are fooling anyway? God knows everything and still we find
ourselves trying to validate doing things that we know are wrong.
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.
This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections.
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie
