The Wisdom of Hidden Choices
In today's world, everyone wants to be at the top of the click count pyramid. Subscribe! Like! Share! Sometimes, personal exposure seems a universal obsession. Hiddenness is vastly undervalued. Hiddenness is antithetical to today's play-to-the-world culture. But hiddenness has always been a secret weapon of the wise.
Hiddenness is A Choice
At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 1 Kings 5:17 (ESV)
When Solomon was anointed king he was, by his own admission,1 young, inexperienced, and faced with a monumental charge: build the temple that will house the very presence of God. Even at this early stage, however, he exhibits the wisdom and insight he would become famous for. Honoring David's diligence in preparation,2 he begins the building project by quarrying “great, costly stones” for the foundation. These large and costly stones were then “dressed,” meaning they were finely shaped and finished before being buried to form the Temple’s foundation.
Because they would never be seen, most people would have provided an adequate foundation without deploying the extra effort and cost to finely shape and dress the stones. Not Solomon. He knew that the foundation would establish the strength and character of the Temple. If the foundation was imperfect then, even though unseen, it would make the Temple imperfect.
His decision was not made on counsel of others but with private deliberation in the hidden place of his heart where he chose to honor God with the finest, even though it would be unseen, because even if no one else would know, he would know, and God would know. His interest and intent were to honor God as he saw his responsibility. It is good to seek wise counsel. Even when we do, however, the choice to accept it and act are our own. As king, Solomon understood that there are times and issues when we must take our own counsel, guided by God's direction.
We do not think of Solomon as someone who was hidden. He was the richest, wisest, most famous and most powerful person in the world. Yet, he understood the principle of hiddenness, that things must be done right even when no one sees, because taking shortcuts undercuts our foundation and puts everything else at peril. In the matter of the Temple's foundation, Solomon exercised a personal and holy choice, a behavior that Peter would later counsel.
Holiness is In Our Hidden Choices
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16 (ESV)
As great as he was, Solomon was not perfect. Like the rest of us, his life was the sum of his choices. Like his father, he had great failures.3 In his later years, he faced his past and spoke of the folly of his unholy choices.4
As with David and Solomon, the wisdom or folly of what we decide in our heart will be revealed. And who among us can claim to be perfect? Not I, and I am betting you will have to say the same. Why, then, does God say to those like us who are imperfect, "be holy, for I am holy?"
He is commanding us that regardless of what precedes it, each hidden decision that we make in our hearts and the actions we take as a result are choices to either walk in His path of perfection or to chart our own imperfect, sinful, arrogant, and doomed path. His command is intended to steer us to right choices because they are the way to holiness. Each choice we make, holy or unholy, is a choice to follow God or not follow Him.
Holiness is in our choices.
Verse thirteen tells us how to choose wisely. Prepare our minds, take serious things seriously, point ourselves toward God, not the world. We were once ruled by our passions. Now saved, our passion is to be a sweet incense before God, a pleasing aroma as He considers us. Instead of playing to the world, we are to play to the audience of one.
Our choices should bring a smile to God's face.
Father God, I have made some awful choices in my life, but I made one really good one - to love, honor, and serve You. Thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus, as a trade for my sin. Help me to remember, even in the midst of hurry, stress, and temptation, that my choices matter and that You are with me even when the right choice is the hard one. Remind me that You are my strength and provision, and that You are always faithful. Let Your presence, wisdom, and might be hidden inside my heart, and let them be my compass. Show me, Father, how to be holy as You are holy. Amen
Shalom
1 Kings 3:5-9
1 Kings 11:1-8
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11