REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on June 13, 2015, is provided by Phillip Chen who is associate pastor at Kairos Christian Church in San Diego.  Phil is a graduate of University of California, San Diego (BS) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.).

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“You Can Hide Nothing from God!”

1 Kings 3:23-28 (ESV)

Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and my son is the living one.’” And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

While the wisdom of God displayed through Solomon in this story is certainly one to behold, I thought it would be interesting to look at this story from another perspective. Indeed, God is just and in due time, justice will be given to His people, but behind it we also see an important lesson—the light that is shed on darkness.  

Picture yourself as a spectator in this debacle as it is unfolding. You’re standing in the king’s courtroom and watching these two women fight over the one baby that is alive. It seems hopeless in figuring out who is the real mother as both of the women adamantly declare that the baby is theirs. How could anyone know whom the baby belonged to since no one was there that night and the baby didn’t look like either of the women yet? Just when all hope seems to be gone and justice seems unobtainable, the king quiets the courtroom with a statement. There is some commotion and you see a soldier getting ready to cut the baby in half. As you turn to look at the two women, you notice one of them crying uncontrollably and the other without much emotion in agreement of what is happening. The king orders everyone to stop and hands the baby to the woman who is crying. The courtroom erupts with gasps and everyone is in awe of the wisdom of God displayed through the king. The courtroom is dismissed and people are left with the wisdom of Solomon and ultimately the wisdom and justice of God.

Beyond the wisdom of Solomon the king, we see an important principle –that nothing done in darkness will be hidden forever. In this case, God gives Solomon the supernatural wisdom to shed light on what was done in the darkness. In the dark of night, the wicked woman stole the baby from another woman and evil looked as if it were going to prevail. But God shed light on the situation through the giving of wisdom to Solomon. Oftentimes, we try to hide our sins and can sometimes use circumstances to try and cover our sins and our wickedness. But even if we might be able to fool most people, we cannot fool God. In our lifetime, we will attempt to cover up many of our sins and hope that the consequences never catch up to us. And it is true that even in this lifetime, some of our sins will not catch up to us (although most of them do). However, we will all stand before God one day and give an account of everything that we have done. On that day, the fullness of God’s wisdom and justice will be like a piercing light that cuts through the darkness of our hearts and we will need to give an account for it.

Do you believe that everything done in darkness will be brought to light? How does that affect the way you choose to walk in obedience to the Word of God? In light of the understanding that we cannot fool God, let us approach this life with much fear and reverence of the holiness of God. May we strive for holiness and walk in the light by the power of His Holy Spirit. May we not grow weary of doing good and trust that in due time, justice will be given to God’s people.    

Prayer: Father, help us to walk in the light and not in darkness. Forgive us for the time we persist in walking in darkness and disregard holiness because we have gotten away with our sins. We ask for Your Holy Spirit to renew and refresh our spirits so that we are once again able to see Your holiness and justice so that we are able to walk before You in the right manner. May You be glorified in our lives. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 24-25