A PIMPED OUT PALACE AND A GARAGE FULL OF CHARIOTS

The word, WISH, is one which works its way into a person’s vocabulary at an early age. Whether it’s losing a tooth and making a wish to the tooth fairy, or making a wish “upon a star”, or “wishing on a rainbow” the idea of a WISH in firmly impressed upon our young minds. The definition for “wish” from dictionary.com is: "to want; desire; long for (usually followed by an infinitive or a clause)."

While a WISH can flow from desire, wishing also flows from disappointment and discontent. Life is not the way we'd like it to be. Our hopes and dreams have been dashed and crashed. While I firmly believe there's such a thing as "holy disappointment/discontent", this heart condition is often influenced more by flesh than Spirit.

I think it's very important to take the time to evaluate what we want in life, our WISH LIST:

What is the greatest desire of my heart? -- This reflects who or what we love the most in life.

If I only had one wish, what would I wish for? -- This reflects our priorities or what's most important to us in life. 

Is God's "wish" [desire] for my life the same as my wish for my life? -- This reflects whether we are truly seeking God first (Matthew 6:33).

One of the most impressive accounts in the Bible is found in 1 Kings 3. In verse 5 the Lord appears to Solomon in a dream and tells him: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (NIV) I don’t want to diminish the impact of this scripture, but this is similar to the whole Genie in a bottle game as kids: “If you had one wish, what would it be?” There’s a lot of ways we could respond if God made that kind of statement to us. We may ask for money. A few million would be nice. We may ask for something more material: a new house, our dream car, a high-paying job, etc. If we lean towards this type of request, it’s because we think the new ____________ will make us happy. For some reason, and it’s a direct reflection of our spiritual heart, most wishes are for money or material things. While this is definitely true for children’s wishes, I’m not sure most of us ever grow out of this kind of wishing. 

After reflecting on what he really needed in his life, Solomon responded to the Lord with this request: “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people (he had just been appointed and anointed king) and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (V9 NIV) That doesn’t sound nearly as fun as a pimped out palace, or a garage full of chariots, or the largest army in world. 

I love what it says in 1 Kings 3:10: “The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.” (NIV) This is a good place to conclude today’s post, with this question: Do you think or feel the Lord is pleased with what you’re wishing for today? 

TO BE CONTINUED…