i-Solomon

If not in intensity, splendor or wealth, certainly in the broad stroke patterns, my life somewhat parallels that of King Solomon.

Got your attention? Let’s see if yours does also, in many respects, especially if you, like me, we’re blessed to learn significantly of spiritual matters as a child from God-fearing and respecting parents.

Solomon was born under rather questionable circumstances. His immediately predecessor sibling had been conceived, born and allowed by God to die on the heels of the most gross sin King David had ever reportedly committed. You know well the story, so the details will not be reiterated here. (2 Samuel 11) Solomon was thus born to repenting parents who, as a result of their ordeal, had a keen understanding of the power and pangs of sin, of God’s forgiveness, and of their need to walk much more circumspectly before Him. You can bet all of this had major influences on Solomon as a lad, especially since he had been designated by God as David’s successor on the throne.

No, I was not born in royalty, nor out of wedlock or other sinful circumstances. Through salvation prior to my birth, my parents had recently developed a keen awareness of the power, presence and will of God in their lives and the world, and would diligently school their children in what they were learning. Praise God they did!

So Solomon and I both grew up gaining this foundational insight onto a multi-generational God who has intimate plans for each person. We both grew into favored son status in our homes, him because of his well-known designation as the next King, making his pack of half brothers ravenously jealous. Unlike him, I occupied the status of ‘only son’, but was not in any apparent jealous sibling rivalry. The point is, we both occupied relatively unique positions in our homes. This likely had subtle (and for him, not so subtle) influences on how we were both raised, instructed in godliness from our birth, and grew into young adults.

Fast forward 2 Chronicles chapters 6-7 and we see the pinnacle of Solomon’s walk with God as a young king – dedicating the first, ever temple constructed on earth for God. Fast forward again to Ecclesiastes final chapters, likely at the peak of his senior adult years, Solomon advises young people, ‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth’. Good advice for us in my age cohort to share with youth of today. But to help ensure they will listen, we need to check ourselves to see whether and how we are demonstrably remembering our Creator in the final chapter of this phase of life, because this will very likely be the convincing evidence the youth will consult to determine how well they will hear us. Solomon continues by prompting the youth to remember God before A, B, C ...X, Y and Z happen in life with age, and before it is too late. Sage advice.

God used Solomon to pen a key insight that is particularly applicable to my life, and possibly to yours, namely, ‘Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Proverbs 22:6). Notice how cleverly this bit of wisdom omits any reference to the critical middle years. While wondering about this, I realized this scenario accurately portrays the pattern of Solomon’s life, of mine, and possibly of yours, too. In this statement, Solomon was testifying of his own experience. How, you ask? Examining his life between the two peaks noted above reveals he followed the well-worn, ‘reverse bell-shaped path’ of a prodigal son. As a youth, I was in the chorus who critiqued the pattern his life took. Now, as a senior citizen who followed this exact same life pattern, I compliment him on apparently finishing well his course! Yes, perspectives do shift with age and experience, and yes, humility does also come with both.

Though he, and apparently people of his day, lacked appreciable spiritual insight into life beyond the grave, Solomon did well to apply his largely ‘earthy’ (carnal?) wisdom to mentoring those of us who would follow him in understanding the deeper riddles of life, and in applying this understanding to godly living. He was totally clueless how The Lord would use his life, wisdom and proverbs to inform and instruct so many people across the generations of time in some of the basics of godly living. He wrote as The Holy Spirit unknowingly moved him.

While lacking the depth of earthy/earthly wisdom of Solomon, in Christ, we are blessed with spiritual wisdom that far exceeds Solomon’s reach. And though we stumble along the way, we can grow in wisdom daily as we progress in our walk with Christ.

Like Solomon, and on a significantly smaller scale, The Lord prompted me to be less of a ‘spiritual sponge’ and to be deliberate in sharing some of the spiritual insights I was learning. After all, sharing reinforces critical lessons we learn. As a result, this book represents a small voice and flag waving in the winds of life signaling:

• God is real, alive, has a Son named Jesus, who is the only Way to the only God Almighty, and
• There is not one aspect of life on earth that is not well and adequately covered in iterative ways by His Word, The Bible, read and mused in the power and insight of The Holy Spirit. 

Admittedly, looking at the surface of our culture, it appears that Solomon’s writings in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (and the entire Bible for that matter) do not compare in ‘drawing power’ to typical posts on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or other social media, but here’s the test: How much of the typical posts on these media will help when difficult times come -- and come they will, or when disaster suddenly strikes? Interestingly and conveniently, the Bible and church attendance became quite popular post-9/11.

Yep, in several respects, i-Solomon. Are you, too, in your own way?
Do you know of any Christ follower who is not ... or perhaps not yet?