My Mum Is WonderWoman

As you can see, on her own she can do many, many things but if you look deeper down you will notice that, even though she is basically a real-life WonderWoman, she still needs others around her.

1 Kings 4.1-19

Reference:  v.1-2a  So King Solomon ruled over all Israel.  And these were his chief officials… (NIV Bible)

Explore:  My mother is the most efficient person on earth!  Even since I have known her she has been incredibly productive and always on the move.  She is a local GP, she has served on many of the community’s boards, she is heavily involved in the church, she bottles jam and fruit from her garden, she walks every morning, she is always hosting people in her home and I can’t even begin to list all that she does for her family and friends.  She is truly amazing. As you can see, on her own she can do many, many things but if you look deeper down you will notice that, even though she is basically a real life WonderWoman, she still needs others around her.  She could never run her GP clinic as well as she does without her secretaries, she could never accomplish all that was needed for the local community without other board members, she would not fully experience church if it wasn’t for the other congregation members and she could never maintain the fruit trees and the vegetable patch without my father’s help.  My mother is amazing, but she does need other people around her.
Solomon was the same.  He had been given wisdom for God and yet he still needed people around him to help him rule over Israel.  As you read through this passage in chapter 4 you may not be able to pronounce all the names but you can see that these chief officials were integral to Solomon’s ruling.

Application:  As I grew up seeing how capable one person can be I often fall into the trap of thinking that I can do everything on my own.  And yet how wrong I am.  While one person can make a difference it is so important to see that we all need other people.  It’s that wonderful image of the body: not one element is more important than the other but all work together to make the whole.  Let us not forget the importance of other people in our lives and appreciate them for the integral part they play.

Prayer: Lord, you have created each person with so many gifts and abilities.  May we see the gifts in others and all work together to build your kingdom here on earth.  Amen.

Who plays an integral part in your life?

1 Kings