YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT

Devotion by Steve Long
Visit Steve's blog for more postings - Reflecting the Light

It has never yet been clearly established as to whether this Queen of Sheba came from a location in Arabia or Ethiopia. Both places have traditions concerning their ancient queen and King Solomon. It might even be possible that this great Monarch was the queen of both locations.

Regardless, the Bible tells us that:

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. (1 Kings 10.1-7)

We can see from the biblical text that the Queen of Sheba was already very wealthy. She had brought to Solomon loads of amazing gifts – huge amounts of gold, precious stones, spices, and rare wood from Lebanon. She was a very wealthy lady!

But when she saw all that Solomon had – the palace, the food, his servants, the Temple of Jehovah he had built; not to mention his unsurpassed wisdom – her spirit was absolutely drained.

There was no question he could not answer, no wealth he did not already own, no authority he could not command, no comparison to anything she had ever seen.

Usually when one hears rumors, they often become exaggerated legends, grossly overstated assertions only partially true, but with Solomon, “the half was not told” her. His wisdom and prosperity exceeded his fame.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. (1 Kings 10.13)

That’s the way it is when you come to Jesus. He exceeds all expectations and we have not yet seen him in all of his glory.

I can say about him that “the half was not told me” and I’m still learning more about his grace, goodness, compassion, love and tender mercies.

One day we will see him as he is in all of his glory and say: “I didn’t know the half of it.”

If you have considered becoming a Christian, think no longer. Jesus is more than you could ever imagine. We already know he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We know he is Savior, Creator, Sovereign, and that he holds all things together to name only a few. What more could ever exceed what we already know about him. Wait and see. You’ll be surprised as you get to know him. Tell him your heart’s desire. Soon you will find that he IS your heart’s desire.