Good Advice

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. - 1 Kings 12:6-8

     Solomon was the wisest king who ever lived. I would like to think that loads of this wisdom seeped into the mind of his children, and that they too were very wise people. Our passage today seems to imply that this idea is merely wishful thinking on my part. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, has now taken the throne after the death of his father. One of his first acts as king is to ask for advice on how to lead the nation. He consults the elders which is a very wise choice. These are the people who have grown in wisdom and consulted Solomon and worked in government for years. They are the first people I would turn to for kingly advice. But this is as far as the wisdom goes. He listens to their advice, which just so happens to be pretty good advice, and then rejects it. Instead, he turns to his young friends and peers to see what they think. As one might imagine, their advice is directly contrary to that of the elders. At this point I want to scream, “Stop!” I want to tell him that he is a fool and should be listening to the elders instead. I have this feeling a lot considering the fact that I teach high school students every day. So often I want to yell at them and tell them to follow their parent’s and teacher’s advice and quit listening to their cute little friends. And the more I want to shout, the more I realize I should be shouting into the mirror. “Listen to God and quit listening to the people around you!” “Quit doing what you want to do and do what you know is wise!” “Quit justifying your desires with words from people who are not qualified on the subject!” I see all of the ways that I forsake the wisdom and counsel of the Lord in order to follow my sinful desires. I am reminded of all of the times I didn’t heed good advice. I am struck by how silly and foolish many of my choices have been in the past. Finally, I am challenged to be wiser in the future. I am challenged to listen to those who have gone before me, and learn from their mistakes rather than my own. I must stay sharp and choose the good advice each and every day. Wisdom is never hereditary.