March 25

Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people. — 1 Kgs 3:9

Solomon wanted to rule wisely. He did not want to be a failure as a king. So he looked up into God’s face and said, “Thou hast made me king. The work is great, and I am but a little child. Give me wisdom to be a good king.” That was a noble choice.

There is a great responsibility in being a preacher. But the responsibility of being a carpenter, a shoemaker, or a plumber, is great too.

Hiram Golf was an old shoemaker, and he told the young minister that his shoemaking was just as religious a business as the preacher’s preaching. If he should mend the shoes poorly, and the boy should catch cold and have pneumonia, he would be responsible. “I cannot afford, as a child of God, with a hope of heaven, to put poor work into that job, for much depends upon it. I would not like to meet that boy up yonder and have him tell me he had died because I was not a faithful shoemaker.”

All work is sacred, and we need God’s help in the commonest occupations.