1 Kings 3:25–26: “And [King Solomon] said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.’ Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, ‘O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!’ But the other said, ‘Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.’”

July 6th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In this famous story of 2 women who both claimed to be the mother of the same child, King Solomon displayed his God-given wisdom by delivering an unexpected and startling verdict that revealed which of the 2 women was truly the child’s mother. He correctly anticipated that the liar wouldn’t object to the child being cut in two, while the real mother certainly would. Envy is such a terrible sin that it blinds us to our own selfishness, as was shockingly evident in the false mother’s response to Solomon’s command. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy” (1 Cor. 13:4).

There are at least 2 degrees, or levels, of the sin of envy. The most familiar one, which is bad enough, says, “I want the same thing you have.” But the even deeper level of envy says, “I don’t just want the same thing you have, but I desire to hurt you by taking it away from you so that you are left empty.” This level of envy selfishly says, “Nobody should have whatever I can’t have.”

In the sinful woman of this story, her selfishness had reached the point where she would have gladly allowed a baby to die. Solomon commanded that the child be cut in half to reveal the selfish woman’s heart. God has given commands to us for the same reason. They serve to reveal to us the real motives of our hearts. It is clear from Psalm 51:10 that David understood that our hearts are sinful and that we need God’s transforming power: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, / And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

“LORD, that is our prayer to You this day, create new hearts in us again.”