Seek First the Kingdom of God?

“That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.”

““Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies— I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!”

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭3:5-13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Solomon had become king against the odds. His older brother had claimed the throne and he had to have his mom, Bathsheba, step in and leverage her relationship with David (maybe a guilt trip -- "after all, you killed my husband!") to secure the throne for her son.

In the night, God appears to Solomon offering him a genie-like offer, "What do you want?" Solomon could have seized the offer to secure his precarious position as the newly minted king who was only 20 years old. Instead, he asks for wisdom to govern.

God was pleased with Solomon's request so He speaks to Solomon, "I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!" (v.12). What a fulfillment of a wish? He promises to make Solomon the wisest man ever to have lived in history!

God doesn't do anything subpar. Whatever God grants it's the BEST! But we knew that. We need to turn attention to verse 13 for fresh insight, "And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!”

It is the OT fulfillment of an NT promise, "Seek the Kingdom of God and everything else will be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). What Solomon sought was the Kingdom of God, to be a good and wise king. But here's the secret, when we seek to focus on the Kingdom, then, everything else is given to us.

If he sought power then he would have gotten it but nothing else. But when he sought wisdom he got what he didn’t ask for. This is the principle of seeking the first the kingdom of God, literally. When he first sought the kingdom of God then everything else was provided for to him and more!

If we pursue our own agenda first we may achieve it but that’s all we achieve, and the responsibility of maintaining it is on us. But if you are about His Kingdom then it is God’s responsibility to maintain the kingdom well as those who work to keep and expand it.

For example, when I was in the Marines and was about government business, I wasn't worried about where I was going to sleep, what I was going to eat, how I was going to get there, etc. My task was to focus on the work at hand. The logistics were taken care of by the government because I was about the mission of the government. It would be absurd for me to be on my own dime for basic necessities of fighting my country's fight.

This is exactly what Jesus is saying when you seek the things of the Kingdom first, then, everything else in life is provided and then some! But if you are about your business first then it's on you to succeed and to maintain it, and you may not even get where you want to go.

The problem is the logic of scarcity. We do not believe God can provide. We believe wrongly that somehow I focus on the things of God then I won't get what I want. But this is logic of logic or scarcity or unbelief. It is the belief that God is not good for me or He is either unable or unwilling to come through with His promises. It is a belief I must either choose for myself my goals or Kingdom goals. But I cannot have both. But as we saw with Solomon when we first seek the Kingdom of God, God not only fulfills Solomon's wishes but also so much more. God is not God of scarcity but God of abundance. Jesus told us as much, I've come to give you life and life more abundantly.