Last words are extremely important in the Old Testament. David’s to Solomon are a perfect example. David charges his son in verse 3 of 1 Kings chapter 2, “to keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.”
David made it clear that if Solomon obeyed God’s law, he would “prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.” This promise, similar to the one God gave Joshua in the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, is not a textual basis for the theology of prosperity so popular today. Instead, it is a declaration consistent with many other Scriptures that no life can fulfill its highest potential unless that life is lived with a healthy reliance on the Word of God. Solomon was so moved by his father’s charge that he wrote two books of the bible dealing with finding meaning and purpose and fulfillment, the only true prosperity, through a personal relationship with God.
This has also been carried over to us with the key “wisdom literature” author in the New Testament. James tells us “The man who looks into the perfect law (God’s Word), …and makes a habit of so doing, is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and he wins true happiness.”
Be all you can be! Go for the Gusto! Don’t settle for less! Pursue true happiness.
Chuck
“Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.” Philippians 2:2