My Lawn and The Wisdom of Solomon: Part 1

I once lived across the street from the guy who had the best lawn in the neighborhood. It was a challenge. More like it was painful!

Every time I looked at his lawn and compared it to mine, I wanted his. I wanted his grass bad.

During those moments, what is it I valued? On the surface it was good grass. But what I really wanted was every guy in the neighborhood to wish he had my lawn as he drove by instead of my neighbor’s.

I even consulted with a “grass expert” in my church. He really sold grass professionally! I even brought “grass samples” of my lawn to church for him to look at and tell me what to do. None of it really worked. My neighbor always had better grass than I did.

I wish I could say I was super godly and overcame my desire for my neighbor’s lawn. I didn’t. The problem fixed itself only when we moved. Occasionally I get back to my old neighborhood. He still has the best grass…

What we value is important to our spiritual growth. Think about the question, if you could have anything you wanted in life, what should you choose? Or, if you could have everything you wanted in life, what should you want? Not what would you choose or what would you want. Rather what should you choose and what should you want.

Maintaining the right value system is always a challenge but it is very important to your spiritual growth.

“The more your value system aligns with God’s value system, the greater spiritual growth you will experience.”

Yet maintaining God’s values is very difficult.

Jesus showed us this in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had asked his disciples to pray for him, then went by himself to pray. He returned a little while later only to find his disciples sleeping.

After waking them up, he encouraged them to watch and pray because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).

In my spirit I know I should not have coveted my neighbor’s lawn so badly. Yet my body was weak. Every time I walked out my front door and looked across the street…I wanted my neighbor’s lawn!

You may want to leave the things of the world behind to focus on your spiritual growth. But in practice it is very difficult because your body is weak too.

When we desire things that are different from what God desires for us, our spiritual growth suffers. When we desire the things of God, our spiritual growth is strengthened.

This difficulty reminds me of Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. Thankfully, he did not start out the wisest man, which means that there is still hope for the rest of us.

After Solomon became King, God appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for whatever his heart desired (2 Chronicles 1:7). God promised that he would grant Solomon his deepest wishes.

Now that is an offer I wish someone would make me. But, think about it for second… what would you say if God appeared to you in a dream and made you the same offer? Anything you wanted. Go ahead, all you have to do is name it and instantly God will give it to you.

In reality, your answer would simply reflect what you value the most; the things you want most in life.

Could you imagine if God appeared to me offering me anything in the world and I asked for a better lawn than my neighbor’s? That sounds ridiculous, although I have a feeling many of the things we would ask for would be equally as unimportant from God’s perspective.

When Solomon answered God, to his credit he asked God for wisdom, and his request was granted (2 Chronicles 1:10). That is how Solomon became the wisest man to ever walk the earth.

After Solomon gave God his answer, God said he was pleased with Solomon for not asking for worldly things. Solomon did not ask for wealth, long life, or even the death of his most despised enemies. These would all have been a little more selfish in the request category. Therefore, as a result, God gave Solomon all those things in addition to wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:11-12).

So, let’s go back to where we started. If you could have anything in life you wanted, what should you want? What should the most important thing be?

Solomon, the wisest person to ever live, helps us with the answer. Getting the answer right in your life is very important to your spiritual growth. We’ll get to that answer in Part 2.