What is it that is truly important to us? Do we place God and pleasing Him at the top of our list? Do our priorities reflect a true devotion to Him? When God asked Solomon what he would like from Him, Solomon’s answer reflected a desire to follow God’s law and to please Him. Not only did God grant his request for an understanding heart, but He also gave him all the good things that Solomon did not ask for because they were more self-focused. When we focus on God first, the rest of the good things fall in line naturally. This is something we struggle with, however, because our first inclination is often to focus on ourselves and our needs. This is something to be guarded against.
When we find the truly important gifts that the Father gives us, if we are wise, we pursue them regardless of cost. To some, God gives the gift of wisdom, to some the talent for healing others, to some the gift of teaching and conveying knowledge, etc. These gifts of God are those we would be wise to pursue no matter the cost, because they serve His people. If we are oriented toward Him as we should be, then that is where our priority will be. You see, in the final judgement, we will not be judged on style, accumulated wealth, power that was attained, or any of the things that the worldly find to be important. We will instead be judged on our service to others, to our compassion toward those who need it most, on our focus on self-giving rather than self-aggrandizement. Our Lord will weigh not only what we accomplished, but what our intentions were, and what we simply tried to do – successful or not. He is the only just judge, because He is the only one to truly know our minds and hearts, and so be able to judge us in true fairness and justice. What He asks, is that we try to follow His laws and teachings, and that when we stumble, we get back up and keep trying. He is not weighing only our success, He is looking for us to love Him enough to keep trying, and to bear the crosses we each have, and to try to do His will regardless of personal cost. If we can do this, we are on our way to the same knowledge and wisdom that Solomon displayed, because we knew enough to put God’s purposes first, and all the other good things we received simply came as the natural result of that choice. We can trust God, we can rely on Him to do this for us, just as He did for Solomon. He is our Father and is fully deserving of all our love and trust. We are His children, and we know that He will never disappoint us in the ways that truly matter.
The Deacons Bench 
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