Famous people

Today: 1 Kings 10-11

Today I had an actual brush with fame. Seriously. I stood in line with a few friends to try and meet a star from one of my FAVORITE shows as a preteen. That's right, ladies and gentlemen--it was Mario Lopez from "Saved by the Bell."

The line snaked around a store entrance. When Mario arrived, grown women (not me or my friends--in case you were wondering) started shrieking and screaming like little girls at the mall waiting to see Hannah Montana.

The line was SO LONG that my friends and I gave up after an hour and a half of waiting (he did walk right by us, shook my friend's hand and patted her baby's head). We like Mario and everything, but we were mostly there to meet an icon from our childhood memories...and get a picture to make our Facebook friends jealous. :)

I thought about my brush with a famous person as I read today's passage about Solomon and his fame. Mario (as cool as he is) is best known for a TV show (or two...or three), a mullet and a great smile. Mario's fans have heard about him through TV and the Internet. But Solomon? He was famous well before modern technology. Solomon was famous through word of mouth. But don't take my word for it--let's re-read portions of this passage:

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon

and his connection with the Name of God.

She came to put his reputation to the test by asking tough questions...

She came to Solomon and talked about all the things that she cared about,

emptying her heart to him.

Solomon answered everything she put to him—

nothing stumped him.

When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself

Solomon's wisdom...

it took her breath away.
She said to the king, "It's all true!

Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom

that reached all the way to my country is confirmed.

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself;

they didn't exaggerate!

Such wisdom and elegance—

far more than I could ever have imagined.

Lucky the men and women who work for you,

getting to be around you every day

and hear your wise words firsthand!

And blessed be God, your God,

who took such a liking to you and made you king.

Clearly, God's love for Israel is behind this,

making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people."

Pretty cool, right? Solomon was definitely famous. It wasn't just the Queen of Sheba that heard about him or came to visit--the passage says, "People came from all over the world to be with Solomon and drink in the wisdom God had given him." Wow.

I think it's interesting because Solomon never aspired to be famous. He wanted to love God and to serve people well as a young leader--so he asked God for wisdom. His wisdom made him famous, but more importantly, it made God famous. In several portions of the passage, people identified the greatness in Solomon with the greatness of God.

Food for thought: Even if you're never famous, what will people you actually know say about the greatness in you?

Tomorrow: 1 Kings 12-14

Famous last words

Today: Genesis 8-11

What would you do if someone saved your life?

My guess is that totally disregarding what they said wouldn't be at the top of the list. But that's what happened in part of today's passage. God saved Noah and his family from a great flood. When it was all over, he told them, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth!"

But instead of following the instructions to fill the earth, the people stuck together. They said:

"Come, let's build ourselves

a city

and a tower

that reaches Heaven.

Let's make ourselves famous

so we won't be scattered

here and there across the Earth."

Ouch. Not only were they totally disregarding God's instructions to spread out, they tried to make themselves famous.

I thought this was interesting in light of our culture today. Did you know that kids actually aspire to be famous? And not just for doing something (winning the World Series, singing, making a scientific discovery)--they dream of being famous just for the fame itself.

On a smaller scale, many people live for praise and approval. They want to be recognized, awarded, and publicly acknowledged for their work or their service. While I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with "giving honor where honor is due," I think there is something wrong with working, serving and striving to simply make yourself famous. It's wrong because it's an attempt to take full credit for someone else's work--in this case, God's work--in your life. No human being would be alive and breathing if it wasn't for Him.

Instead of disregarding God, let's honor Him--let's make God famous instead of attempting to be famous ourselves. There's a big difference...and it starts with having a heart to obey.

Tomorrow: Genesis 12-15