God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!
King Solomon had it all. He lived 3,000 years ago in Israel around 970 BC. He was the first king of Israel and “became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.” “Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”
King Solomon was hard working, he read and wrote many books, he built cities and Temples, gardens, houses and many other things. He wrote songs and married many beautiful women. And he loved and worshipped the Lord.
Violence is not the answer to having a peaceful, blessed life – wisdom and worshipped the Lord is. Wisdom is making the right decisions and disciplining your self to follow those good decisions. And worshipping and following the Lord will keep your heart pure and keep you on the right path.
It says in the Book of Psalms (in Arabic known as the Zabur):
“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” – Psalm 128:1-2
There is a way to have peace, prosperity, blessing, joy and happiness. But violence and drugs is not the way.
I saw some Somali young men standing on the street in front of a building smoking pot and hanging out their friends. It was noon. I was coming home from a bike ride getting my exercise and I stopped to watch them out of the corner of my eye. They were young, strong, handsome, intelligent, well dressed, but they were hanging out with the wrong crowd doing things that are going to land them in jail. That had a look of anger and bitterness in their eyes – like daggers or bullets. They had no joy or peace – only darkness, sorrow and hate.
Solomon said:
“My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them!
They may say, “Come and join us.
Let’s hide and kill someone!
Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave;
let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.
Think of the great things we’ll get!
We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.
Come, throw in your lot with us;
we’ll all share the loot.”My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
They rush to commit evil deeds.
They hurry to commit murder.
If a bird sees a trap being set,
it knows to stay away.
But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.” – Proverbs chapter 1 verses 10 to 19
And this is the way it is with following the devil’s advice, he promises great riches, fame and power but the devil is a liar and his words deceive people. Instead of riches, fame and power Somali young men end up in jail, in the hospital, or in the grave. And this has got to stop. You Somali young men need to read the Bible and hear words of wisdom and truth that you help put you on the right path so that you can live a blessed and prosperous life.
It would be good for you to read the book of Proverbs. You can find it here at this link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+1&version=NLT
A Proverb is a short saying containing wisdom. Like: “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”; or “She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.”; or “Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.”
King Solomon provides wisdom for all of us so that we can lead peaceful and prosperous lives. I encourage you to read the Book of Proverbs and email me and tell me what you think of it.