Introduction: Many times, people celebrate others and may even envy them based on the amount of wealth they have acquired; having no idea about the emptiness and lack of fulfillment that go on in the recesses of their hearts. Having certain kind of results or wealth is not a sign of a fulfilled life. Be careful of how you celebrate or look down on people. Do not esteem people just because they seem to possess more wealth than others. Do not look down on people especially those who ardently obey God’s will like ministers of the gospel just because they have less possessions compared to others. Jesus warned us in Luke 12:16 to “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
If wealth and position were the marks of being correct, then God would have been pleased with the life of Solomon; however, that is far from the truth. Solomon was the beloved of God whom God gave the throne of David on a platter of gold. He had great resources to fulfill God’s will but he disobeyed God and God became angry with him (1 Kings 11: 9. So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice).
Where is your heart now? What are your strongest desires? Is your heart fixed on acquiring great degrees, wealth, fame to prove that Christians can be “successful” at the expense of obeying God’s call? That is no longer necessary; many people all over the world and even in Nigeria have already proved that. Solomon acquired knowledge, wisdom, inventions, wealth, properties and women more than you can ever do. Yet, at the end of his life, he labeled them as vanity.
When Solomon was alive, I can imagine how kings, princes and common men would have envied him. In fact, many could have named their children Solomon prophesying into their lives that they shall succeed like Solomon. Little did they know that the man they thought was succeeding was actually a big disappointment to God and his kingdom. In fact, they would never have imagined that the person they envied was actually sad or that he regretted the way he lived. The regrets are clearly written in the book of Ecclesiastes. He said in Chapter 2 verses 17-20:
“Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet, he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore, I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.”
We know from the life of Abraham, Isaac, David and other great men of God even in our generation that being prosperous does not negate being a friend of God but why did Solomon’s life end in such disarray? His problem was disobedience. He was busy chasing shadows instead of fulfilling his assignment which was leading the people of God to serve Him! He desired and worked hard to become great but disobeyed God in the process. The rules for the kings were written in the scriptures but he disobeyed all of them. Did Solomon not read the instruction for kings in Deuteronomy 17:15-20?
“You shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them. That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”
He knew it was wrong to multiply horses but he did it anyway. He had forty thousand (40,000) stalls of horses for his chariots and 10 000 horse men. He even went ahead and signed an agreement with the king of Egypt for his people to be obtaining horses from Egypt even though God had said that his people should never go back to Egypt for anything. (And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means. 1 Kings 10: 28 &29)
He knew it was wrong to multiply wives but he had seven hundred (700) wives, princesses, and three hundred (300) concubines. As if that was not enough, he even made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, as a wife and brought her into the city of David. (1 Kings 3:1) despite the warning not to go back to Egypt. He married princesses of foreign nations that God has warned his people not to marry. God’s plan for Solomon was to lead His people to love and serve Him but he was a bad leader, he ordered his life in such a way that he deviated from this and ended up worshipping idols.
“But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.’’
“For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.”
Solomon lived and died unfulfilled. Is there anything you are convinced that God wants you to do and you are not doing? Is there any aspect of the scriptures you are disobeying in your quest for money, fame and greatness? Please, quickly repent and obey the word of God. Don’t allow your heart to be deceived just because you are still being used in the service of the kingdom or because you are the wealthiest among your peers. Solomon was the richest man that lived in his time, he heard God’s voice, sacrificed many offerings and blessed the people of God but those things did not change the fact that he was disobedient. The disobedient actions later caught up with him and destroyed his life. The silent corruption of his heart shown in his disobedience of marrying foreign wives matured and manifested its fruits not at the beginning but later on in his old age. Disobedience to any aspect of the word of God is the little fox that destroys people’s great vines and estates but it may not happen immediately. It may happen towards middle and old age leaving their hearts empty and unfulfilled.
I once heard a story of a notable Nigerian lady who married an unbeliever though she was born again. Initially, she seemed settled and happy because she was married like her friends but some years later the seemingly gentleman who did not practice his other religion when they were courting became a strong fanatic and she has been having bitter experiences. She tries to obey the call of God which she had received since secondary school days but this is with a lot of tears in her current situation. I pray that will not be your portion; you will fulfill God’s purpose for your life and prosper greatly in total obedience in Jesus name.
Conclusion: Jesus has made you a king and priest just like Solomon was a king and preacher (Rev 1:6). There are instructions to be obeyed as written above, one of which is to read the bible every day and obey what you read. If you don’t, then it will be impossible to fulfill God’s plans and that leads to emptiness even though others may celebrate your ephemeral achievement.