Daily Manna 11 January
MEMORY VERSE: “And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.” – (2 Chronicles 2:10).
READ: 2 CHRONICLES 2:1-10
Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3 Then Solomon sent to [a]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:
As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him [b]sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the [c]set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinanceforever to Israel.
5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will bewith your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the [d]temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
10 And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Automaker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charles Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day, the generators ground to a halt and the repairmen could not find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then switched it on. The generators whirred to life, but Ford got a bill of $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted carmaker inquired why the bill was so big. Steinmetz replied, “For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990”. Ford paid the bill. Solomon was such an asset to Israel, especially in the early part of his reign.
From our text, Huram the king of Tyre, praised the Lord for giving Israel a prudent and understanding leader to mobilise His people towards building the house of God. Solomon’s wisdom, no doubt, wins the day, especially the great success of building the temple. He mobilised the people into shifts to handle the work, to promote specialisation and division of labour. He equally wisely established friendly relations with the king of Tyre to have the needed timber shipped to Jerusalem in a trade by barter arrangement.
Leadership is needed to ensure success in every project we undertake. Victory in all the major world conflicts was achieved through strategic leadership. Success is not achieved solely because of availability of human and material resources. The entrepreneurial and prudential qualities of leaders ensure proper management and utilisation of available resources to achieve the set objectives. To sustain the success already achieved and to secure our future both in life and in eternity, we need God-fearing leaders who are good managers with wisdom.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Leadership is key to success in life.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 32-34
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – The Power of Wisdom – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 11 January 2021