Reignნიმუში

A lot of times, wisdom is about more than merely discerning which path to choose. It requires a keen understanding of human behavior. Take, for example, the case that came before King Solomon one day: Two women stood with a single baby. Both women had just given birth, and both claimed the baby was theirs. Tragically, one of the mothers had rolled over in the night and killed her son. But Solomon didn’t know which woman was the boy’s mother, so he came up with a plan. Knowing that a mother would never want to see harm done to her child, he ordered the child be cut in two so that each woman could receive half a baby. Gruesome as that was, both women responded differently. One woman pleaded for Solomon to give the child to the other woman, while the other accepted the king’s murderous ruling. Instantly, the king knew who the boy’s real mother was.

Jesus said that His followers should strive to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The “innocent as doves” part makes a lot of sense, but sometimes we struggle to be “as shrewd as snakes.” When faced with a dilemma, we must always ask, “What outcome will please God?” and then do everything we can to get there. Solomon knew the right thing was to reunite the boy with his mother and that one of the women was lying. So, he did what was necessary to bring light into the darkness.