Joel M Bradshaw

11The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. 13And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”–1 Kings 6

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

1. God never says “if” to proclaim something uncertain to Him.
2. If God was waiting on Solomon to first act, then that decreases God and increases Solomon in sovereignty.
3. The sovereign King displays that rule by decree and not by responding to things.
4. The “if” is for us, for we don’t know the future.
5. Solomon needed to know that there were expectations for him and they were conditional.
6. God, of course, knew how the rest of Solomon’s story would play out, but Solomon did not. He needed the “if” statement to keep him in line.
7. The test is for us and not for God. Do you trust God regarding the future? Do you honor God with your choices today? I am learning to replace “if” with “since.”–JMB