“For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother.”
I have always appreciated the quote: “There are only two things that you can’t change: the place you were born and your parents. Just water where you are.” This quote is attributed to the legendary Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge. As we go through Proverbs, there can be a tendency to dismiss its practicality for our own lives, viewing it as the writings of someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Solomon certainly had advantages. His father was King David, the most powerful man in the world at the time, and he was born into a kingdom that he would one day rule. However, rather than being a disqualifying life circumstance, those experiences actually equipped him to bring us a clarity of wisdom that God built into him. Not only did he gain insight through his experiences in the family of King David, but he was also wise enough to ask God for wisdom, and God responded by giving it to him. It is also easy to dismiss our own circumstances by saying that if only we had been born into wealth or influence, we could be more effective. Yet there are more than enough examples of men and women who came from nothing and became powerful leaders. Numerous U.S. presidents, for example, were born in circumstances far from the White House only to end up there. In reality, many people born into great circumstances squander them, while many who begin with no apparent advantages build remarkable lives in spite of that. All of this must be understood in the context of the hand and calling of God on our lives. Today, live your calling and allow God to be your heritage. #BeTheEdge
“But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” James 2:9 NIV
