Solomon and the Can-Opener
Notes
Transcript
Good morning, PL-lites!
It’s so nice to be here with you once again, and I’m so glad that I’m able to share the word of God with you this morning…
Do you still remember what is Chapel Time?
That’s right! It’s fun-time…
Today, we are going to look at story of King Solomon, in the 1 Kings 3:5-15,
Now, I’ve prepared a video to tell you about the story, so let’s turn our eyes to the screen!
I hope you enjoyed the short video…
You know, PL-lites, this story reminds me of two brothers who were about to go camping with the family, but just before they left for the campsite, they were given some money to buy some stuff for themselves as a treat…
Their mum gave the elder brother a $50 note first,
reached into her purse to give the younger brother another $50 note but realised that she only had a $5 note left…
She asked the elder brother to share the money with the younger, but the elder brother refused… saying that its his money and it’s up to him to get what he wants with it…
But the younger brother was nice… and told the mum that it’s ok… he would just make do with $5…
In any case, they arrived at the stall and the two brothers were happy, and immediately went around looking and collecting stuff they wanted…
The elder brother with $50 and the younger brother with $5…
Soon enough, they paid for their purchase and went on their way to the campsite…
After they reached their campsite, set up the place, pitched their tents and settled down,
The parents got the two brothers to take out the stuff they bought at the stall…
The elder brother went first…
He took out cans of delicious looking sardines, cheese-filled sausages, baked-beans, luncheon meat, crab meat, soup…
Lots of yummy food…
And as for the younger brother, with the $5, he took out the two things he bought…
A candy bar, and something none of them expected…
He took out a can-opener…
He explained that he noticed that the elder brother took all the wonderful canned food but without a can-opener, they were quite useless…
For sure, the younger brother could just use all of the $5 to buy things for himself, but he decided not to, but decided to buy something that would benefit everyone, rather than just himself…
Additionally, the can-opener would also give everyone access to the wonderful food that the elder brother bought…
Without the can -opener, all those other cans of food were useless…
the younger brother was not selfish and thought of others,
And this is just like the story about King Solomon we saw in the video just now… and just to recap, let me read the passage for us today…
" 5The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon. He spoke to him in a dream during the night. God said, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.” 6Solomon answered, “You have been very kind to my father David, your servant. That’s because he was faithful to you. He did what was right. His heart was honest. And you have continued to be very kind to him. You have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7“Lord my God, you have now made me king. You have put me in the place of my father David. But I’m only a little child. I don’t know how to carry out my duties. 8I’m here among the people you have chosen. They are a great nation. They are more than anyone can count. 9So give me a heart that understands. Then I can rule over your people. I can tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Who can possibly rule over this great nation of yours?” 10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for that. 11So God said to him, “You have not asked to live for a long time. You have not asked to be wealthy. You have not even asked to have your enemies killed. Instead, you have asked for understanding. You want to do what is right and fair when you judge people. Because that is what you have asked for, 12I will give it to you. I will give you a wise and understanding heart. So here is what will be true of you. There has never been anyone like you. And there never will be. 13“And that is not all. I will give you what you have not asked for. I will give you riches and honor. As long as you live, no other king will be as great as you are. 14Live the way I want you to. Obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did. Then I will let you live for a long time.” 15Solomon woke up. He realized he had been dreaming. He returned to Jerusalem. He stood in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. He sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. Then he gave a big dinner for all of his officials." (1 Kings 3:5–15 [NIrV])
What was happening here was that King Solomon had just became king and God asked Solomon what did he wanted…
At this point of time, Solomon could ask for anything that he wanted…
he had a choice to make…
he could choose something that could benefit himself such as great wealth…
or perhaps for all his enemies to go away or be killed…
but he choose neither… he chose to have wisdom…
because he knew that wisdom was like a can-opener in the story earlier which can be used to open up all the other cans of food that the elder brother bought…
with wisdom, Solomon could be a great steward of all the other resources that he had…
without wisdom, all the other resources may be squandered and hence waster…
and another thing to note is that he didn’t ask for wisdom to benefit himself…
instead, he wanted wisdom to carry out the great task that God had given to him…
to rule the people of Israel as King…
he asked God for help… to allow him to be obedient to God…
even though he was King, he wasn’t proud, he chose not to abuse his powers and authority as King
he didn’t tell God… I am now a King and I don’t need you anymore…
instead, he called himself a little child,
and humbly asked God to give him the tools to help him do a better job…
to help him, to be a better king…
and again, this was like the younger brother who bought the can-opener,
not to only benefit himself, but to benefit everyone there…
Just like the younger brother, Solomon thought of others before himself…
And these are the two things that we want to learn from today’s chapel…
1. Let us always things about others and let us not be selfish and think about benefiting ourselves all the time…
a. Look around you and see where you are able to help others
b. Is there someone who needs help with their homework?
c. Is there someone who is feeling sad and needs some cheering up?
2. Let us ask humbly God to help us be aware of those around us who needs help…
Let us pray…
Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to learn about King Solomon and learning from him as an example of how we should always think of others, how we should be obedient to you and how we should always be humble unto you…
Even as we continue with the rest of the school today, may we have a wonderful day, and may you open up our eyes to opportunities to put into practice, what we learnt from you today…
We thank you Lord, for always being with us and always teaching us…
And we commit ourselves into your loving hands…
In Jesus’ name we pray. And all God’s children say… Amen….