Seek God First....He Has Great Gifts For You Too

2 Chronicles 1:3-6 -  Then Solomon led the entire assembly to the hill at Gibeon where God's Tabernacle was located. This was the Tabernacle that Moses, the LORD's servant, had constructed in the wilderness.  David had already moved the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the special tent he had prepared for it in Jerusalem.  But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri and grandson of Hur was still at Gibeon in front of the Tabernacle of the LORD. So Solomon and the people gathered in front of it to consult the LORD.  There in front of the Tabernacle, Solomon went up to the bronze altar in the LORD's presence and sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on it.

 

From day one…Solomon was blessed by God to become a great king…and Solomon did not take his favor for granted.  He gathered the leaders and led them up the hill leading to Gibeon…about 6 miles…to the site of the original tabernacle…the one Moses had built using the blueprint of God.  There he offered a huge sacrifice to God...to seek his direction in his life.

 

Perhaps that is why God visited him that evening…and offered him anything he wanted.  God’s favor was multiplied with no boundaries…because Solomon sought the will of God from the very beginning of his rein. Solomon was a wealthy man….so he took an appropriate sacrifice.  Solomon had many people to advise and help him lead…so he took them all with him.  They all stood before the altar of the Lord…and offered what they had to praise and thank him for everything good in their lives.  They sought him for direction in their future…so they would be in his will.

 

I think it was important that he traveled to the tabernacle of God that Moses built. Even though the ark was housed in a tent close to the palace….Solomon felt a need to travel to God’s complete tabernacle.  For me…it shows his need to seek God …instead of taking the easy way…and placing God where we want him to be.  Something drew Solomon this day to seek God in the tabernacle of his forefather’s…not just enter the tent his father had built to house the ark.

 

I chanced upon a sweet spot by a gentle creek this weekend. My travels made me tired before I reached my true destination…so I stopped for the night…picking the town because I remembered an aunt and uncle stayed there in the summer months.  God led me straight to a motel by the creek…where my room opened on porch next to the rushing water. As I sat by the creek that first night…old memories flooded my soul of how close I felt to God when I am near the river.

 

I would drive sometimes after work…just to sit somewhere close to the creek…where I could put my feet in the cold refreshing water and talk to God. The farther I could afford to go up the mountain …the better. We had some of the best conversations back then…maybe because I was a better listener when the sound of the water drowned out the worries that led me there in the first place.

 

Solomon must have felt the same way….so he gathered up everyone who needed to hear from God…and they hiked up the hill…where he knew for sure God would be.  They left the worries and noise of the city behind them…and they took God presents…and sacrificed them there.  They spent time worshiping and consulting God…perhaps in audible cries…or maybe it was simple silent prayers.

 

Most of us know how this was rewarded by God. God followed him home to the palace that night…and appeared in person to Solomon…to tell he was so pleased he could have anything he wanted. And Solomon just humbly replied that he had been given such great gifts already…he wanted nothing more than the wisdom to lead …and judge…and honor God with all that he had been asked to be in control of. And God granted him al that he asked for and more.

 

Father….thank you for this story that reminds me to seek you first...and all other things will fall into place.  I thank you for the perfect place to have this epiphany …and for renewing my soul with the living water in your Bible.  Help me father to be wise like Solomon…and seek you always for the direction you would have me to go...so you can use me as you did this young king.  Help me to make all my decisions based on your will for my life and the word you gave me to live by daily.  And thank you for going with me anywhere I go.  Amen.