Greatness…
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Greatness”? A hero? A friend? Athlete? Politics? We heard in this past election the slogan “Make America Great Again!’. Without getting into a political battle of choosing sides, try and separate the politics and let’s define what greatness would look like. (Note: I am not here choosing a political side but questioning the style of leadership currently in place.)
Recently, we have seen mass shootings stemming from hate crimes. We have seen are leaders, use derogatory words against certain ethnic groups. Fights are breaking out and tensions are high and our law makers tend to look away. I don’t know about you but this is disturbing to me. With all that’s been happening, do you really feel that we as Americans/people are becoming great?
I’d like to share a passage in the bible where King Solomon, (the wisest and richest man ever to live), was King over Jerusalem and the Queen of Sheba came to visit him. Note what the Queen had to say. This is from 2nd Chronicles chapter 9.
5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the
greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard.
7 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your
wisdom!
8 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule
for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he
has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
I see a few characteristics of greatness in King Solomon that I’d like to point out. One thing that the Queen pointed was his wisdom. Yes Solomon was the wisest man ever to live. Wisdom is having knowledge and good judgement which is a lot different than favoritism or just appealing to a select few or a certain group of people.
The Queen also noticed that the people he governed along with Solomon’s officials were happy. A good mark of a leader is how happy the people are. Not just the selected few but all people from all backgrounds. She also noted the officials were happy to hear the when the King spoke because of his wisdom.
The 3rd thing is that the Queen saw that God delighted in King Solomon and God made him King so he can maintain justice and righteousness for all people, all groups and all backgrounds.
Now when you look at our country and the state it’s in. and compare it to the way it was when Solomon was King , which one do you think is more closer to “Greatness” ? I think it’s obvious that when God is in charged, Greatness can be achieved. I don’t know about you but I would like to see this type of Greatness everywhere. So how can it be achieved? Don’t depend on a political official or your neighbor, it starts with you. What are you going to do to help make America/ The World great? Let’s not turn into hating people or see people as an invasion but let’s see people as God would see them. God loves all people. He created all people. 1 John 12 says “…but if we love one another, God lives in us..” And 1 John 21 says “…Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
I wrote a blog about “What Are We becoming?” You can check it out here at https://soaringsaxman.com/blog/blog/what-are-we-becomming.