Grace through Wisdom – A Sword above Our Treasures

1 Kings 3:16-28 (NIV) 

    Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. [17] One of them said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. [18] The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

    [19] "During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him. [20] So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. [21] The next morning, I got up to nurse my son--and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't the son I had borne."

    [22] The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours."

    But the first one insisted, "No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine." And so they argued before the king.

    [23] The king said, "This one says, 'My son is alive and your son is dead,' while that one says, 'No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.' "

    [24] Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king. [25] He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other."

    [26] The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!"

    But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"

    [27] Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother."

    [28] When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

Wisdom is becoming competent, knowledgeable and skillful with the nuanced realities of life! 

1 Kings 3:18 (NIV) 

    The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

Proverbs 26:4-5 (NIV) 

    Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

        or you will be like him yourself.

    [5] Answer a fool according to his folly,

        or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Eccles. 5:10 (NIV) 

    Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

1. Whatever area of our lives that we make our functional and ultimate master on a practical level that is other than God, we will lose that area eventually

Matthew 16:25 (NIV) 

    For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

2. Whatever we fully surrender to God, God will find ways to restore to us in His way; whatever we hold on to, we will lose, or we will destroy it

    [26] The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!"

3. Give up insistence that we must have certain idols at all cost when God puts a sword over them, and God will give us a new freedom and future unimagined

Matthew 16:25 (NIV) 

    For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

One reason why we can surrender even the idols we are addicted to, to God in exchange for Him is because He knows how to bless us abundantly, His way