When everything is not enough (1 Kings 10-11; 2 Chr 9; 1 Tim 6)

Solomon had everything, yet here in 1 Kings 11, we see it wasn’t enough. His striving for more and more led him to turn away from God, and tragically that led to a split in the kingdom as we’ll see as we read on in 1 Kings.

The apostle Paul began his letter to Timothy by commanding him not to tolerate false teaching, and ends with another warning about the danger of false teaching (1 Timothy 6). There were some, and still are people who use their position as ministers to teach what people want to hear because they can gain from it. They gain popularity and even earthly riches. But Paul tells Timothy to stick with the “sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.” (1 Timothy 6:3).

Don’t worry about how popular you are, nor about how much money you make, instead, Paul says, there is great gain in “godliness with contentment” (6:6). This is what Solomon had failed to learn. To help us learn the lesson Paul takes us to the boundaries of life, birth and death. “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” You will leave everything behind, so hold it all lightly. How much is enough? Paul tells us if we have food and clothing, that is enough. The word for clothing is covering and so could include a house or some kind of shelter. So have you got food, clothing and a roof over your head? Paul says that’s enough! It’s not wrong to have more, as Paul will say later, if you have more, you can be generous and share it with others (v18). Money is not wrong itself, it’s the love of money that is the problem (v10).

So why not pray today that the Lord will help you to be content with what you have and to stop chasing after other things? Rather than seeking more stuff, seek to be more like Christ, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness.”