“I give you a heart so wise and understanding ...” 1 Kings 3:12
I think every parent knows the heart flutters that accompany giving your child the chance to ask for something that will be of value to her or him. From listening in with Santa to know what might be on target Christmas morning to learning which schools will receive applications for the following fall.
These are moments in which “who” son or daughter is becoming can be heard and seen. They are moments, too, that focus our own gifts and skills to assist them and to usher them into those new moments that become ours as much as theirs.
In the First Book of Kings today, God’s relationship with Solomon has brought the Servant King to the brink of greatness. The beauty and power of their relationship is manifest in the “request” he makes of the Lord God when offered to do so. He seeks wisdom, not all of the trappings of external power and glory a new king might seek. Surely it is God’s love for him that makes this possible, but that he asks as he does strengthens that loving relationship.
“The wisdom of Solomon” will become a watchword for all the generations to come, even for peoples who do not really know Solomon or who do not really know the Lord his God. In the words of Jesus, in Jesus we have a greater than Solomon here. He is the treasure buried in the field that makes the price to buy the field worth paying. He is the pearl of such value that selling everything else one owns to buy it is the right choice. God’s heart flutters for us.