Mmmm Indian curries with Naan bread Mmmm

In Australia, we have amazing food from all over the world!

But that’s not the only food that is mouth-watering.

At Bible College last semester, I ate mouthfuls of Old Testament.

⁵ 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.’ ⁶ Solomon answered, ‘You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. ⁷ ‘Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So 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?’

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for – both wealth and honour – so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.’

1 Kings 3:5-14

What leadership qualities do you look for when electing a government?

Australians will vote on 7 September 2013 for the political party that will govern for the next 3 years.

There has been a lot of talk about “Who do you trust?”

Politicians trumpet their economic credentials and sadly their hard line stance against refugees.

There has been little talk about “wisdom” or “wise government”.

In the Old Testament, Solomon was a young and inexperienced king.

He took over governing Israel from his father – David.

David was Israel’s greatest king as shown in 2 Samuel.

Solomon had big shoes to fill and the Israelites had high expectations of him.

In the passage above, Solomon had a chance to make a request from God.

Solomon could have requested long life, personal wealth or death of his enemies.

Instead, he asked for something unusual: a discerning heart in government.

God was pleased with this request and granted Solomon a wise and discerning heart.

Solomon is known as one of the wisest kings in Israel’s history.

Wisdom is a rare quality in today’s political debates as Australia’s leaders promise many things.

So far I’m not convinced that our current leaders are displaying discernment.

But let us pray that whoever wins the election will govern wisely for all Australians?

Ultimately, all politicians will disappoint us as they are only human.

The Bible tells us of an amazing king descended from David.

This amazing king’s government is based on justice and righteousness.

The kingdom of Jesus lasts forever and is a peaceful haven free from war.

Do you want to be in this kingdom?

mmmm Bible mmmm