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Solomon and lilies.
God made man to function from the inside out. He intended that we should be supplied by the life that resides in us (Ephesians 3:20). Most people look for their help from the outside, even help from God. Matthew 6:28,29 says, "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Solomon was one of the wealthiest men that ever lived, yet Jesus said that the lily was clothed much greater then he. Why? Because a lily has a type of life inside of it that supplies its’ needs and automatically creates its’ beauty and purpose. Solomon needed to have his needs supplied from the outside.
Solomon was the king’s son. He grew up in a royal palace. His life’s experiences were always prosperity and success. So many of us are limited by our life’s experiences. We look back at our life and cannot possibly imagine God doing something better with us. We see our continued sickness, financial lack, lack of purpose, marriage failures, rebellious children, etc., and we limit God with our own inability and failures.
What is God’s solution to our "poverty mindset?" I believe that He wants to renew our mind with the Word of God, especially with stories and parables. Eventually our mind needs to see a positive image and an expectant hope for the future, but our past experiences along with Satan and his demons bombard our mind with negative thoughts. Take a look at John chapter 6, and see how Jesus endeavored to paint a positive picture on the minds of the "poor" people He was dealing with. The poor wanted Him to do a second miracle in order to feed them again. Instead He pointed them to the blood covenant with God and got their attention by stating that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. He eventually said that His Word put the blood covenant into effect with God. Jesus spoke some very intriguing words in order to capture their imagination. He used the same strategy with the people he addressed in Matthew 6 mentioned above when He spoke about Solomon and lilies. He was painting mental images of spiritual truths.
"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:13). Loins are the place of procreation. Our minds play a major role in the birth of our future.
Larry Chkoreff, December, 2001