Faith Worth Taking About

King Solomon ruled Israel from about 970-930 BC and during that time God blessed him greatly. In fact, people were talking about him so highly that the Queen of the kingdom of Sheba decided to pay him a visit to see if what she had heard was true.

After travelling fifteen hundred miles and spending several days with Solomon she said, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard... praise be to the Lord your God” (2 Chronicles 9:5-8).

I like the fact that the Queen is even more impressed with Solomon after spending time with him. It is one thing to look good from afar, but it is another to maintain that image when people get to know you. Solomon was who he appeared to be.

I also like that that Solomon used his life to point people to the God. When the Queen gets to know Solomon, she wants to get to know his God as well.

I think this is a pattern for how things are supposed to work. Jesus said to his followers, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). When people look at your life, they should be able to see God and his goodness in it.

The bottom line is that the Christian life is supposed to be an attractive thing. As people get to know us, they should want to learn more about our God, not less. If we are living our faith in a way that does anything other than display the grace, joy, peace and love of God, we are doing something wrong.

As much as it depends on you, people ought to be talking about you and the God you serve for all the right reasons.

Comments

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly. https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s

Consider This: Twenty-three Descriptions of God (Psalm 145)

Let’s play a quick game. Take 10 seconds and list 5 or 6 words to describe God. Got your words? Good! Here comes the game part. I will list twenty-three ways that David describes God in Psalm 145, and we will see how many of his words match yours. David says that God is, the king, great, majestic, wonderful, powerful, awesome, abundant in goodness, righteous, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, glorious, mighty, trustworthy, faithful, supporting, generous, providing, near, saving and watching. How did you do? This is not a useless exercise. The words we use to describe God not only indicate something about how we see him, but they also influence how we interact with him. For example, if I know that God is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (verse 8), I will not fear him, and I will not assume that he is against me. When I remember that...

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants. Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do. Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most. In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks. However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like! Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites. That is not true. They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...

Consider this

Subscribe

Get new posts by email:

Search This Blog