Daily Devotion – July 24, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
1 Kings 3:5-12
3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.”
3:6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.
3:7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
3:8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.
3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”
3:10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
3:11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
3:12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.
Solomon’s prayer here is preceded by God appearing to Solomon, and God asking Solomon what God should give him. God and Solomon already have a bond, a relationship, and God offers Solomon a gift of his choosing. Among the many things God seems to expect being asked for by this human king: long life, riches, defeat/death of enemies. Instead, Solomon asks for the one thing that, in the long run, will help him be a better king, the position and vocation God has given to him: wisdom and understanding.
In these devotions, the notion of vocation comes up periodically. Each one of us has a calling (vocation) from God – something God has gifted us for and expects/hopes that we will do in our lives. Since the vocation is God-given, God will be surprised and delighted if that is what we ask God to help us get better at. If your vocation is cooking, a deep curiosity and delight in recipes may already be yours. In these days where the world is turned upside down, maybe you are cooking for fewer eaters, but maybe you could be helping even more people to eat well. God might be pleased to give to you an equal curiosity about what your neighbors like to/need to eat, to add to your interest in recipes and help your vocation extend more broadly into the world God loves.
It is the same with congregations. They, to, are called by God into a vocation. They have been blessed with gifts that God has always called them to use to serve the world God loves. Now, when the world is topsy-turvy, is the time to expand the “cooking” these local churches have been blessed to be good at, expand it in even unusual ways to more broadly serve the world that God loves. God is up to something vocationally in this time and place, and we, as individuals and as the church, can ask God for new gifts that fit our vocations and expand what we can do and be on behalf of the world.
Dear Lord, help us to be wise like Solomon, and ask you to expand our gifts to fit expanded vocations in this confusing but opportune time on Earth, to your glory. Amen.
