“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.’ Solomon answered, ‘Give Your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours.’ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.”- I Kings 3:5,9-10

You may recall in last Sunday’s message I shared about the keys to a SUCCESSFUL LIFE. One of the examples I drew from was the life of King Solomon (David’s son). In the above story God asked Solomon one question, a question that I think many of us would desire God to ask of us, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” When Solomon answers the question, Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! (that was Solomon answering the question correctly J), God ensures Solomon even more than he requested and that he would be unequaled among men.

This story of Solomon’s encounter came alive to me one night last week as I was getting the boys ready for sleep. I was reading them the story of King Solomon. I paused for a moment and asked each of the boys what they would want if God asked them the one question He asked of Solomon. One of the boys immediately stated that he would ask for 10,500 of his favorite toys! I then turned to Ian and asked him what his request would be. He paused for a moment, then looked up to me, and with his larger-than-life heart said, “I would want all the people in the world to know God.” This is the type of thing that makes a father proud, a moment when I am sitting in the stands of life shouting out, “That’s my boy!”

But even greater than the joy I felt at that moment was the immeasurable pleasure that God must have felt as one of His kids was getting a Ding! Ding! Ding! from the throne-room of heaven. Ian’s answer was not shocking, as he has always demonstrated a sweet spirit and sensitivity to the Lord, but it was quite special, 100% right, and an important reminder to me that my answers to God (like Ian’s was) should focus on two things very near and dear to God (Matthew 22:37-38):

1)Seeking the Heart of God - Our aim should be that our words, thoughts, actions, and life are pleasing to the Lord. We are not to get so caught up in ourselves, that we fail to catch the bigger thing that our life is to be about and that God wants us to do (no matter how fun 10,500 of our favorite things would be).

2)Helping People – In the light of the recent earthquake in Haiti, a tragedy that has rocked a nation, leaving destruction and death in its wake, we are seeing scores of people being sent to serve and money/supplies being gathered to support the relief efforts. In the midst of disaster we are seeing the best come out of people as they are giving everything of themselves to those who need real help and a real touch. We must be reminded that every day right where we live there are people who need to be rescued from the rubble of life.

Ding! Ding! Ding!…what’s that sound you ask? Why, I believe it is God signaling His approval to us individually and as a church family as we take Ian’s cue and lead, by seeking to serve Him and seeing people come to know Him.

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