The passing of a respected leader or a loved one is one of the most challenging things in life to deal with. For most of us, the first time we experienced something like that occurred during our childhood. On rare occasions, that experience is something we face for the first time later in life.
I was recently reading a book that included the life story of the author. One interesting aspect of his story is that at the time of writing, he was still in his 30s, so the story of his life was still developing.
As he described the season of life that took place in his mid-20s, he mentioned that the patriarch of his family, his grandfather, passed away. That experience had a profound effect on him and his view of life going forward. He said he was highly aware of the fact that many of the blessings he enjoyed in his formative years were directly tied to the wisdom, hard work, and others-centered decisions his grandfather made for the overall benefit of the family.
It’s a beautiful thing when you can directly identify the generational impact a single life has had on the people who are born in subsequent generations. David certainly wanted to have that kind of impact on the generations that were born after him. He spent a considerable amount of time contemplating the promise God made to him about his royal lineage. And even though David was a fallible man, I think it can be said that he made the attempt to set up his descendants for success.
Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. (1 Kings 2:10-12)
After forty years of serving as king, David died and the kingdom was transferred to his son Solomon. Solomon was a young man at the time, possibly around 20 years old, but by the grace of God, his kingdom was made strong and his leadership was firmly established among the people.
I wonder what it was like for him to assume the kind of responsibility that would be required to lead a kingdom? Growing up, I had the personality type that wanted to be thought of as older than I really was. I wanted adults to trust me with tasks and responsibilities that they wouldn’t typically entrust to someone of a young age. Some of that came from a genuine desire to serve, but I think part of that was also connected to how I wanted to be seen in the eyes of others. Leadership seemed glamorous to me, but I’ve learned something important about leadership since my youth that I think all believers should eventually come to understand.
Leadership isn’t meant to be glamorous. In fact, I would contend that if it feels glamorous to you, you probably aren’t actually leading. You may be serving as a figurehead, and you may be getting credit for the work other people are doing, but that isn’t the real essence of biblical leadership.
Biblical leadership looks to Jesus as the ultimate example. The kind of leadership Jesus demonstrated during His earthly ministry exemplified a heart of service. Jesus was willing to do hard things, receive criticism from people who didn’t like His decisions, and serve people without the expectation of getting something equal from them in return. Christ-like leadership involves humility and a willingness to suffer or make sacrifices for the benefit of other people even at a personal cost to yourself.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1-5)
When Solomon followed David as king, he was in a position of leadership that he could have used to bring fame to his own name or bring benefit to the people he was called to serve. I love reading about the heart he exhibited during the early years of his reign. Solomon wanted to do what was right. He didn’t assume that he had all the answers at such a young age, and he readily admitted that he would need the gift of God’s wisdom in order to lead well.
“Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:9)
When the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and offered to give him whatever he asked for, Solomon asked the Lord for an understanding mind so that he would be able to discern between good and evil and govern God’s people with wisdom. What a beautiful thing to request! Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if every leader prayed this way when assuming their role of leadership? Just imagine the impact that could have on nations, corporations, churches, and households!
Solomon wasn’t asking the Lord for something natural. He was requesting a supernatural intervention into how his mind would work. He wanted to see things the way God sees things. He wanted to understand things from more than a natural perspective. He didn’t want to have to rely on his own limited experiences or the limited experiences of his advisors when he made decisions. He was praying for wisdom that was divinely graced. Is that something we’d also like to possess? If so, how is it obtained?
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
To obtain the wisdom of God, we need to live in a trusting relationship with God. If our lives and our ambitions conform to the same standard this world idolizes, we’ll see life, people, and circumstances the same way this world sees them. But if we trust in Jesus and live with reverence toward the power and holiness of God, His power will transform the way we think. We’ll enjoy real discernment and the ability to understand the will of God as we make decisions that impact our lives and the lives of others.
The Lord was pleased that Solomon desired that kind of understanding. Solomon could have asked the Lord for wealth, power, and fame, but he didn’t. Most people ask God to give them the pleasures, comforts, and esteem of this world, but Solomon knew he needed the mind of God more than he needed the treasures of this world. God was pleased with Solomon’s request and told him He would receive what he asked for as well as all the things he could have asked for, but didn’t.
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (1 Kings 3:10-14)
The Lord made good on this promise. Solomon was blessed with wisdom. His reign as king was prestigious and powerful. He was also made one of the richest men who has ever walked the planet. That was great, for a season, but Solomon’s life also demonstrated that the riches and other trappings of this world can become a snare that distracts us from what life is really all about.
The Lord invited Solomon to be a man who walked with Him faithfully. He encouraged Solomon to keep his statutes and commandments as his father David had done. God even told Solomon that his days on this earth would be lengthened if he did this, but Solomon’s life eventually went in a different direction, and it appears that he lived about a decade less than his father David.
“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11:4)
I don’t know how your life on this earth began or the things you’ve endured during the course of your days leading you up to the point you’re at today, but wouldn’t it be nice to finish well? David finished well. Solomon did not. What about us? How do you want your life to be remembered?
I recently came across the obituary of a man named Harry Stamps. Mr. Stamps passed away back in 2013, and I believe his daughter took the liberty to eulogize him with a few remembrances of his life. In his obituary, she shared the following…
He had a life-long love affair with deviled eggs, Lane cakes, boiled peanuts, Vienna sausages on saltines, his homemade canned fig preserves, pork chops, turnip greens, and buttermilk served in martini glasses garnished with cornbread.
Harry took fashion cues from no one. His signature every day look was all his: a plain pocketed T-shirt designed by the fashion house Fruit of the Loom, his black-label elastic waist shorts worn above the navel and sold exclusively at the Sam's on Highway 49, and a pair of old school Wallabees (who can even remember where he got those?) that were always paired with a grass-stained MSU baseball cap.
Finally, the family asks that in honor of Harry that you write your Congressman and ask for the repeal of Day Light Saving Time. Harry wanted everyone to get back on the Lord's Time.
I appreciate that family’s sense of humor, but even in the humor, we’re being given a reminder that our lives will make an impact in this world. We will leave a legacy. It will either be a legacy of walking with Jesus and taking His Word seriously, or it won’t. It will either be a legacy of genuine faith being expressed through serving others, or a legacy of wasted blessings and missed opportunities.
By God’s grace, my prayer for us is that we will leave a legacy of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. There is no greater thing that could be said about you or me when our earthly days conclude than we knew Jesus and walked with Him daily.
© John Stange, 2023
