Proverbs 8:15-16. 15By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; 16by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
When Solomon became king over Israel after his father, David, had died, he was offered by God to ask for anything. What an offer. Of course, you know what Solomon asked for – wisdom and discernment. Not wealth, or power, or a long life. An “understanding mind” (1 Kings 3:9). And God granted his request. Solomon was famous for his wisdom. Kings and queens came from far off lands to hear the judgments of Solomon.
One judgment in particular is most famous. Two harlots share a home, both nursing young babies. When one of the mothers accidently kills her child she switches her dead baby for the other mother’s living baby. Solomon, using a bluff, decides to apply the law literally to this situation. Without proof of what truly happened, the two women should cut the child in half and split it, Solomon says. This decree naturally draws out the hearts of the two women. The lying mother agrees to the decision, for she has nothing to lose. But the true mother, in love for her child, cries out to let the baby live even if with the lying mother.
Do you, like Solomon, also ask God for wisdom? Obviously, we all want wise rulers, and we rightly pray for our leaders to be guided by godly wisdom. But we ourselves are also rulers. I’m sure you rule on some level over something. Your household, in your workplace, in the community. And chances are, like Solomon, you know all of the rules and laws of that space. But do you know how to justly apply those rules and laws? Do you have wisdom?
Solomon didn’t just know the law; he knew the heart. He knew how those mothers would respond to his heart-wrenching decision. He had relational wisdom, and he used it to draw self-protection out of the lying mother, and loving self-sacrifice out of the truthful mother.
If Christ in us is our wisdom (and he is), how much more do we have the power and ability to use his life to draw out the hearts of others? Just as the little baby was asked to sacrifice its life for the sake of justice, Jesus was cut in half for us. But the cross was no bluff. It actually happened and it exposes the heart of everyone that meets Christ’s loving self-sacrifice there, much more than any law alone could ever do.
Jesus ruled justly not by forcing us to keep the law, but by giving of himself willingly on the cross. When we rule with this same loving self-sacrifice, placing ourselves on the chopping block for our families, co-workers, communities, it too will expose the hearts of others. Anyone can obey the rules, motivated by fear or self-promotion, but to follow a leader who would give up themselves for others, that requires both a just ruler who places others before self, and a follower with a softened heart who will take up the same cross.
You: Who do you rule over? Do you rule with wisdom?
You in Christ: Why do we need Christ and not just the law in order to rule with wisdom?
Christ in you: How might your own self-sacrifice soften the hearts of those you lead?
Pray: Father, help me embrace the justice of the cross, of self-sacrifice, as I lead others. Amen.
To Live is Christ 