It is interesting to reflect a bit on king Solomon’s material possessions. Today’s verse says : “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.” Why does the bible put so much emphasis on Solomon’s earthly possessions? My brother, my sister, who among us would answer they don’t want to become as rich as Solomon was, mainly when we live in the time of reality TV Shows that broadcast ways to become rich without making any efforts nowadays? When we read the Old Testament, we see that riches were considered as tangible evidence of God’s blessing and prosperity was seen as a proof of right living. Abraham was blessed by the Lord, Solomon, King David, etc… Now, when we reach the books of Ecclesisates and Job, we are given another perspective of prosperity and shown that we are nothing and our earthly possessions have no value before the Lord. Ideally, we should prosper when God is in control of our lives, so that His name be glorified , and He said He wants us to prosper as our souls prosper (3 John 1:2). Yet, there is no guarantee for any one us to prosper ACCORDING TO OUR OWN CONCEPTION OF WEALTH. However, we should always keep in mind that wealth does not prove that a person is living right before the Lord (but peace , joy and love can be evidence). The same, poverty does not mean that someone is living in sin. In fact, a greater evidence that a person is livig for God is the presence of suffering and persecution in His life : “Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:13). Naturally, it is necessary to distinguish between the suffering and persecution that we cause ourselves in our lives because of our lies and different sins and those we suffer because of our love for the Lord ! In other words, the most important treasures every believer should try to gather are not earthly ones but heavenly ones (Matthew 6:19-21). It is only what you do for the Lord Jesus has value in His eyes and will remain eternally. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name. [retweet] [facebook]