Daily Devotional for Saturday, February 17

The Challenge

“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever,” 1 Chronicles 28:9.

As parents, we want several things for our children. First, we want them to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and develop strong relationships with Him. Beyond that, we want them to be happy, healthy, successful, honest, hard-working, dependable and independent. I have never heard a parent wish their children would be liars, cheaters or lovers of evil. We want the best for them. We want them to learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others so that they may thrive as free from heartache as possible.

Here was David’s charge to his son and heir, Solomon. After speaking to all of Israel, he turned to his son and started with the most important advice which was to know God and serve God. All the military conquests, riches, wives, land, livestock or children would never be enough if his heart was far from God. David knew this. He had experienced it. He wanted Solomon to learn from his father’s mistakes to keep him from as much heartache as possible. David knew that God looks not at the size, stature or wealth of a man, but He looks at the heart. He told Solomon to seek the Lord and not forsake Him. Solomon had seen this in his father all along. He had seen his mistakes, and he had seen his blessings. Through it all, Solomon had seen David’s willingness to serve the Lord all his days.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY
Whether you have children or not, let us teach others by example. It is much harder to give advice and influence others when our lives tell a different story.

Ashley Ridings