1 Kings 11:41-43 – What legacy would we leave behind?

In 1 Kings 11:41-43, we come to the end of Solomon’s reign. These three verses gave us four facts about him for our learning. Firstly, all that he had done were recorded in the book of the acts of Solomon. We may not know what was written in this book but verse 41 said that all that he had done, including his wisdom, were recorded. The good part of his accomplishment that took place in his life was when he walked faithfully in obedience  to the commandments and statutes of God. That was when he could judge uprightly, rule judiciously, and built the temple, the most important building of the nation. The minute his devotion for God waned, his life went spiraling downward.    

If our lives are to be remembered, what would we want people to know about us? Won’t we wish that more good deeds than bad are remembered? Won’t we want to be remembered for our devotion to God, and how we have impacted life? Take this as a lesson, we may do many good deeds in life, but one bad deed may erase all the good that we have done. So it behooves us to be careful with our lives.

Secondly, we are told that Solomon ruled over all of Jerusalem for 40 years. He, his father David, and Saul, each ruled for 40 years. In comparison with many of the kings of both Israel and Judah, 40 years was considered long. It is about one generation. Never mind what Solomon had done, what’s important is what are we doing with our 40 years? How will we account for them? However, no matter what we have already done so far, it’s not too late to seize the remaining years of our lives and make them count for the Lord. Let us not be remembered for our flaws. Let us be remembered for the impact we have made in people’s lives for good.

Thirdly, we are told that he died and was buried in the city of his father David. We are not told what was written on his tombstone.  But we do know one line most tombstones today would have. There would be an indication of the year of birth and the year of death. In between the two years would be a short hyphen. It may be short, but it silently represents the sum-total of one’s activities in life, good or bad. What would we like the hyphen in our eventual tombstone to represent? This is a challenge to live life the best way we know how, to honor God.

Finally, we are told that his successor was his son Rehoboam. What kind of a person was he? What legacy did Solomon leave behind for him? We will uncover this in our later reflection. But of now, this should challenge us to consider what legacy would we want to leave behind to our children? We either raise them up to live a life to glorify God or a life that leaves much to be desired. The choice is clear!