When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon...she was overwhelmed. She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be!... Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king...”
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
2 Chronicles 9:3-8
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, she came up to Jerusalem, half incredulously, with a great caravan of gifts for the king and with just as many questions to test him. She couldn't believe the stories she had heard were true. She was overwhelmed to find out that she hadn't heard the half of it! After Solomon had answered all her questions and after she had praised God for giving His people such a wise king, Solomon generously gave her all she asked him for. In fact, he ended up giving her more than she had brought to him in the first place. He blessed her more than she blessed him.
May this be the pattern of our witness as well! Unbelievers should hear stories about the love and generosity and joy and reconciliation and unity within our churches. They should come to church out of curiosity, half incredulously, to see if the stories they heard could possibly be true. And when an unbeliever does investigate our church or our lives, let us be very careful to exceed their expectations in every way. So that they can rejoice in saying that they hadn't even heard the half of the amazing work God was doing in us. And as they go out from us, curiosity satisfied, let us take great care and even pride in making sure that we are more a blessing to them than they are to us. Be a blessing to lost people every chance you get! This is a sign of God's goodness and blessing in your life that you have enough extra love and kindness and peace and time and even money to allow some to spill out onto them. This should be true of us individually and of our churches as a whole. We don't need to take anything from this old world. It all belongs to our God, so we ought to be generous and even extravagant in seeking to be a blessing to those who come to us seeking to know about Jesus.
Think on this today. When people hear stories about you, stories about your church, what kind of stories do they hear? When they come to see if the stories are true, does the reality of your everyday life outshine the stories? And when these lost people leave you to go out on their way, do you seek to bless them in the name of Jesus every chance you get? I know I still don't measure up, but I am going to strive to follow Solomon's pattern in my life and in my church.
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