Right Alliances

You cannot win the game by self-reliance. Rather it is necessary to learn with whom to make the right alliances. To become the Survivor on CBS's hit show, you must align yourself with the right people, those who would befriend you, help you, protect you. If you fail to make those alliances, you are "voted off the island."

Alliances are important throughout life. We started making them on the playground years ago when teams were divided. I always tried to get close to the strongest players, the best athletes, the right friends. I often found myself on the winning team because of it. Some alliances are simply friends who help us cope, who are in similar circumstances, who understand us and we them. Other alliances are beneficial for our professional life, they help us succeed, they make us better than we are, they encourage us to work harder and may even be competitive.(Like those friends who train together, then compete against each other on race day. It's an healthy alliance.)

What happens when we fail to make these alliances in life? You've heard the phrase, "no man is an island." We are not meant to live alone like this, alliance free. We were never meant to be lonely or to have to make in on our own. We need the help of others. Maybe that's why we are called the human race?

Why the discussion on alliances? No, I'm not planning on trying out for Survivor: Timbuktu, rather there is an alliance we must nurture in order to receive the most from this life, our alliance with God.

King Solomon had grown up learning the benefits of deep faith. He witnessed it and experienced it through his parents, King David and Bathsheba. I am sure he heard often the stories of his older brother (the one who died in childbirth), his father's faithfulness and the answered prayer that produced Solomon (Jedidiah). He understood the benefits of knowing God and living on God's side. The very life of the Kingdom of Israel was dependent on Solomon's alliance with God. (That's a lot to put on one person, but then again, he was the king!)

"Live in my presence...pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments." (1 Kings 9:4, The Message)

The promise to Solomon was that if he were faithful, David's Kingdom, Israel, would sit on a solid foundation and the kingdom would have one of his descendents always sitting on the throne and that God would have Israel's back forever. What an awesome promise. If only he trusted God.

If you remember the story, although through much of his early life, Solomon did trust God, but began early in his reign to enjoy the benefits of being King. He enjoyed his fame, he enjoyed a host of gifts from exotic places (including princesses for him to marry) and his wealth. And he turned aside from the alliance with God. And in the few years following his death, Israel had started to become a God-visited devastation.

A life that honors God is more than simply following the commandments. It is a life that is aligned with God. It's living rightly and being attentitively obedient to God's guidance and judgment. It's living in an active alliance with God. On the playground I always wanted to be on the strongest team, the one guaranteed to win, the one that used the rules to it's advantage. I still do...

...God's team.

Peace ><>
PC