FRIDAY - 6TH JANUARY, 2023
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola & Oreoluwa ADEJUMO
WHEN YOU IMPRESS GOD - Seek Right Series 001
Read I Kings 3:1-10
I Kings 3:9-10, KJV
"9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing."
Only few ever impress God. So few a people. How do we impress God? By seeking of Him what will impress Him? Many times, people ask or seek frivolously but God wants you to be weaned and be saved from the selfishness revealed in your search and prayer.
God appeared to Solomon in Gibeon and in his dream. He made him a tender, "ask of me anything." This is probably after the first impression he made on God. Solomon was said to have sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings. Imagine slaughtering an animal at every step and inch (I Kings 3:4). Solomon having just being crowned king therefore requested for an understanding and discerning heart as to be able to judge the people. He touched God because the Bible recorded that, "his speech pleased Him." Many a speech that didn't even persuade God. These are prayers and thoughts that didn't bypass the ceiling to the heavens. At such impression, God couldn't hold it but express His delight. He told him, "because you have not asked for what men prioritize and what concerns many, I have given thee an understanding heart that never existed before thee or after thee (I Kings 3:11)." To now prove that Solomon indeed impinged on God's heart, God told him, "I've also given you what you didn't ask for: riches and honour so that there'll not be any like you in your day (v.12). Look at how Solomon caught what he didn't even ask for!
That's it. Solomon impressed God. He asked for what should be the ingredient of his ministry as a king and one who will often judge the people. God sees that the love to excel in kingship and never be partial or misjudge exists in him. What did God respond with? He saluted him for such good choice, compared his choice with many frivolous choices (God must have seen and experienced of other men) and then gave him his request while blessing him with what he didn't ask for in his prayer. Many times, we humans are so parochial that we miss the mark. There's a chief blessing that command others. If you seek that chief blessing, it'll attract to you other minor blessings. But many times, we pursue the lesser instead of the greater. When Solomon went for gold, God gave him other trophies with it.
Matthew 6:33 says, "but seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well." You see, knowing what to seek is actually not so hidden. The Bible keeps helping us focus on what our pursuit should be. But many there be who run helter skelter after what can't bring them the ultimate in life. If you seek after God's will, seeking to make heaven a reality on earth for humans wherever you are, you can't but possess other things like fame, riches and honour. In the service you've committed yourself to, other attractions will by it come. But, what people pursue are "these things - food, clothing, shelter (Matt.6:31)" to the neglect of His kingdom and God's ways of doing things.
Today and this early, God wants you to prioritize what to seek and pray for in prayer. Don't waste your bullets. Focus your target and it'll have a mark. There are blessings that command other blessings. The mark that Solomon asked right and that God was impressed with him is giving him other things many covet and do die for but which he acquired by pursuing "the only one thing that matters." The mark that "seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness" is chief also comes with sub blessings. It therefore tells me that whenever a man seeks right, he's rewarded beyond his search. Please, seek right this year.
PRAYER: Lord, open my eyes to the utmost need in my life and of my ministry, vocation or assignment. May I seek and impress God.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Job 16:1-19:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 22:1
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