Going Back Home
1 Kings 9:13 (NIV) King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
What? The queen of Sheba has seen the wisdom of Solomon, and he has blessed her with good things, things she has asked for and things she didn’t know she’d enjoy. She has asked him hard questions, and he has answered every one of them. She has seen how his servants are well dressed and blessed. It has so affected her that she has no more breath in her. She is completely overwhelmed by what she has experienced.
So what does she do? She turns and goes back to her own country. This seems odd. Do you have such an investment, such a stake in your own kingdom that you cannot abandon it to embrace the kingdom of God, though you see that it is far superior to your own? Will you insist on returning to being king of your own hill rather than being a humble servant of the Lord Almighty? Yes, it will take a radical departure from everything you have known, from your own accolades, from your own understanding, from all that is familiar, but is it not worth it to abandon everything for a share in the kingdom of God?
Matthew 11:12 (AMPC) And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].
Perhaps the Queen of Sheba returned to her nation to testify to her people and bring them to the knowledge of that true God. We are not told, but we do know that…
Becoming a follower of Jesus will look different from everything you have ever known, and it will take an aggressive departure from the former things for you to follow Jesus fully. Are you willing? It will cost you everything and the Lord does not make this a secret.
Luke 14:33 (NIV) …those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Are you willing even to depart from what you, as a believer, have let creep in to become an alien norm in order to return to fully following Jesus? Let us be willing to continue to be a living sacrifice (Romans 11:2) so that, even though we have made ourselves weak, the glory of God may rest on us (2 Corinthians 12:9).