Pastor Rusty Milton
1 Kings 3:16-28 ESV
Love has measurables, the clearest example of which is whether or not someone is willing to sacrifice for you. The greatness of the Father's love for us is shown through Christ's willingness to sacrifice his life for you so that you might have an eternal relationship with him.
In 1 Kings 3, we see King Solomon faced with a court case involving two prostitutes claiming a baby as their own (Vs. 16-18). Prostitutes were social pariahs, and yet Solomon was willing to take their case. Like them, God is willing to condescend to involve himself in our lives. We, who only conceive of love from a worldly perspective (i.e. possessing whatever we believe will make us happy), are saved by God's love, which seeks what is best for us even at the cost of his own life.
Solomon further exemplifies God's love by making a wise decision (vs. 24). He poses a dilemma to both women: kill the child and divide his body in half. This he does in order to discern the heart of each woman. As he no doubt predicted, the true mother willingly sacrifices her claim to the child in order that his life might be saved. One might say she sacrifices her own life with the child in order that he might live. Solomon banked on the truth that genuine love is self-sacrificial.
How do we apply this? Love God with all your heart through obedience and by living out a relationship with him. He is worthy of our love because he has clearly demonstrated his love for us through Christ's sacrifice.
1 Kings 3:16-28
English Standard Version
Solomon's Wisdom
16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.