-12 “Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.  Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.”Wisdom is a good thing.  Yes, I think we can all agree on this.  But what is the difference between wisdom and knowledge.  Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment.  Knowledge is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Do you see the difference?  Wisdom and knowledge both involve facts that you gain from experience.  The thing that wisdom has that knowledge does not is good judgement.  You may know a lot about something but you may not have the good judgement to apply that knowledge differently in different situations.  Wisdom is so important.  It is important to have good judgement.  In fact, King Solomon is a great example of how important wisdom is.  In 1 Kings 5:3-14 it says, “ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” “ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.  And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”I looked online how old Solomon was when he became king and it seems it is not confirmed anywhere; rather, it said that in tradition, we believe he was 12 years old, while other sites said 20. Either way, he was young and you can see by the conversation he has with God, that he felt like he was only a little child. He did not feel that he was old enough or wise enough to handle the task that he was given. How many of us have felt this before? You were asked to do something and you did not feel prepared. I would say almost every parent can say they have been in this position before. Did you feel ready to take that tiny bundle home from the hospital? I know Tony and I didn’t. I remember thinking we needed an instruction manual. When we put Sam in the car for the first time to go home from the hospital, we were beyond nervous. I remember that we did not even want to have him sit in the back seat alone. I think I sat in back with him so I could keep an eye on him the whole time. Now, imagine you are in charge of a whole nation at age12 or even 20? A nation that is too numerous to even count. That is a lot of responsibility for anyone, no matter your age. I wonder what I would have said if I had the chance to ask God for one thing? I would love to envision me asking for the correct thing. I would hope that I would ask for something unselfish just as Solomon did. I am just not sure if I would. As a new parent, you want to give your child everything. It is as if your needs go out the window and all that matters is the safety of that little baby. What could you ask for that would ensure the safety of your little baby? You could ask for the baby to be healthy, but then what about your next baby? You could pray for the safety of your baby, but what about the safety of the rest of your family? There are so many factors to consider when thinking about the future and safety of those you are responsible for. I have seen enough fairy tale movies to know that your wishes don’t always turn out as you want them too. There are always unforeseen circumstances that happen when you least expect them. Solomon was smart though. He did not wish for safety of his kingdom, he did not ask for his own life to be protected, or that he have victory over his enemies. He asked for wisdom. He asked for God to help him to discern right from wrong. This is why he stands out over all of the others in my eyes. He could have asked for all the riches in the world. He could have asked for the biggest army in the world, but he didn’t. He asked for a discerning heart to help him know right from wrong. I believe that Solomon had seen how great God had been to his father. I think that he knew if he did the right thing God would take care of the rest. I don’t know much about Solomon, but I know it talks a lot in the Bible how much his father loved God and how God favored his father, David. I wonder if David taught him to trust in God, or if he just learned it by watching all the wonderful things that happened to his father? How many of us would have asked for the same thing? To me, it makes so much sense, looking at it on this side of it. God is always telling us not to worry and not to be anxious. He is forever telling us to just ask, trust and seek Him and He will take care of everything else. So, it makes perfect sense to ask for a discerning heart, to ask God to help us judge what is right from what is wrong. So, why then, isn’t that the first thing we think of when we get into trouble or face a problem we don’t know how to solve? Why don’t we look to God first and ask him how he wants us to solve it, or ask God to give us the gift of discernment so we know what he would like us to do? Why do we always spend so much time and energy trying to solve things and to come up with solutions on our own? Join me right now as I ask God for a discerning heart. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you for a discerning heart so that I can know what is right and what is wrong. I wish to do only what is right in your eyes. I know I will fall short as I am only human. However, with your grace I will stand back up and continue to try to do what is right. Father, I ask for wisdom as Solomon asked for wisdom. I do not have a nation under my care, but we all have someone that is counting on us and we pray that you give us the gift of wisdom so we can help others in their quest for doing what is right. We love you dear Heavenly Father and we ask all of this in accordance with your will in your son, Jesus’ holy name. Amen!