“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
“Jason, you will be finishing fourth grade in a few months. Your mother and I are thinking of letting you play an instrument. If you’d like, you may choose the instrument you want to play, but that means you will also have to choose to give up either soccer or basketball,” Jason’s dad was saying.
“Wow, Dad, I’ve always wanted to play trumpet. I can’t wait to play trumpet!” Jason tapped his fingers up in the air in front of him, playing a mock trumpet. But then he thought of having to give up one of his favorite sports. “Give up soccer or basketball? I don’t know which one I could give up.” Jason spoke out loud.
“Well, son,” said his father patting him on the back, “you have some time to think about it. Meanwhile, can you think of someone in the Bible who had to make a tough decision a long time ago? He was a king in the Old Testament.”
“Is it King David?” Jason asked.
“No. I’m thinking about his son, King Solomon. Let’s read 1 Kings 3:16–28,” Jason’s dad said.
After they finished reading the passage, Jason said, “Wow! King Solomon was smart, Dad! I’m not that smart. I wouldn’t have known who that baby’s mom was.”
“Well, most of us are not that smart, Jason.” Dad said. “Remember what the last part of the last verse says: ‘They saw that the wisdom of God was in him [Solomon], to do judgment [justice].’ The people in Solomon’s kingdom understood that it was God Who had given Solomon his great wisdom.”
“God can give you wisdom, too, Jason. Let’s read James 1:5. God says He will give you wisdom if you ask for it. You know son, Solomon asked God for wisdom in the early part of his reign. It’s right here in 1 Kings 3:5–9.”
“God came to Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted. Solomon said in 1 Kings 3:9, ‘Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?’ Just like God said He would in the book of James, God gave Solomon wisdom when he asked for it. God gave it freely, generously and abundantly.”
God will give you wisdom when you ask.
» Have I ever asked God for wisdom?
» Do I ask God for wisdom when I have to decide something?
» Do I realize I need God’s wisdom to make good decisions between right and wrong?