Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Valuable Lessons from Two Prostitutes – 1st
Kings Chapter 3 verses 16 to 28
They were both prostitutes, the trade they chose for
themselves.
They both lived in the same house where they
probably practiced their trade. In the course of time, they both got pregnant
and they both had sons – three days apart. The mother of the living baby was
the first to have a child and three days later, her house or roommate also had
a son. Great women, great job because they took to caring for their sons
despite not having husbands or live in partners. Their love of motherhood and
care for their sons is highly commendable.
However, both women had terrible weaknesses. They loved
sleep, real deep sleep; probably the type of sleep described by the Psalmist in
psalm 13 verse 3, and the writer of Proverbs in Proverbs Chapters 6 verses 4 to
10, 24 verses 30 to 34.
Unfortunately, this great love of sleep cost one of
the prostitutes a great loss – the death of her son. She slept so deep that she
lay on her son and crushed the baby to death with her weight. Beloved, sleep is
refreshing and wonderful for anyone and much so for women who have just given
birth so that their bodies can recuperate fast from the rigors of carrying the
foetus for nine months; and the travail of childbirth as well as the accompanying
blood loss. However, every woman has just given birth to a baby sleeps with one
eye open and two ears wide open. Why? Because the baby needs care and could cry
for food and attention at any point in time. Even women who share beds with
their husbands do not travel in sleep because they have a baby to look after. But
these two young women, alone with their babies really slept deep. You may say
only one of them did, the one who lay on her baby. But I beg to disagree. The two
of them slept deep. How?
The woman with the dead baby must have been startled
out from sleep by whatever or she probably got tired of sleeping. But for whatever
reason, she woke up in the middle of the night as narrated by the mother of the
living baby who was fast asleep. Immediately the mother of the dead baby
realized that she had crushed her son to death because of deep sleep, she
became wide awake and quickly strategized. She exchanged the babies; her dead
son for the living son of the first woman who was still fast asleep. And while these
was happening, the first woman who is also the mother of the living baby was
fast asleep. She did not hear a sound, not even the sound of her baby being
moved from her side and a dead one dropped by her sides. Some sleep, if you ask
me!
Beloved, my prayer is that God in His infinite mercy
will deliver His children from the sleep which makes them unaware of the plans
and activities of the enemy targeted at destroying them or creating havoc in
their lives.
The second woman had lost a son while the first
woman was about to lose her son. Fortunately, certain characteristics in the
life of the first woman coupled with the wise and sound judgment by King
Solomon saved her son and helped her.
The first woman was observant. She knew the specific
features of her baby and thus knew that the dead baby was not hers. Otherwise,
she would never have gone to the King. She would have taken the dead child as
hers and resigned herself to fate. But the knowledge she had of her son’s
physical features gained from careful observation made her go to the King. After
probably arguing with the second woman to no avail, she took the matter to the
King for judgment.
Secondly, the first woman had compassion and that
was what eventually helped in deciding the case. The second woman did not care
about who owned the living baby as she assented to the King’s decision to cut
the living baby in two halves as the two women could each have a piece of the baby.
But the first woman could not stand and watch her living baby cut in pieces;
and eventual death. So she begged the King to give the living baby to the second
woman who was adamant that the living baby should be cut in two. The King then
realized that the first woman was the mother of the living baby and ruled that
the baby be given to its real mother. God bless discerning King Solomon.
But there are apt lessons to be learnt from this
story. It may be about prostitutes but there are life lessons worthy of anyone’s
attention including nations. While sleep is good and needful, too much of it,
too deep a sleep can result in great losses.
The young man described in Proverbs Chapter 24
verses 30 to 34 as devoid of understanding certainly had far too much sleep and
slumber. Consequently, he lost his vineyard. Sleep may not only be physical, it
could also be spiritual or mental. Whichever be the case, the consequences are
always the same – losses.
The Bible records in Matthew Chapter 13 verses 24 to
30 that an enemy planted weeds in the field where wheat had been planted so
that if the owner of the field attempted to uproot the weeds, the wheat would
also be uprooted leaving the farmer with nothing. The wise farmer advised his
workers to allow both to grow together so that they would be separated at
harvest time. Significant and instructive is the fact that the enemy planted
the weeds while people were sleeping. This also implies that when people sleep
spiritually, the enemy has ample time to wreak havoc but unfortunately for him,
Jesus Christ always intercedes for His own to help them.
How about mental sleep? In Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 13
and Hosea Chapter 4 verse 6, the Bible records that the people went into exile and some even
perished because they lacked knowledge and understanding. This is a fall out of
mental sleep – refusal to acquire knowledge and gain understanding.
Ironically, there are many individuals, families,
communities, institutions and nations who are mentally asleep and have refused to
take advantage of the gifts of God upon them because they have deliberately
refused to acquire the relevant knowledge to turn those gifts into economic
blessings. Beloved, what else do these peoples need other than to wake up from
their mental stupor that has gone for too long? Will they continue to sleep for
a thousand years and more and keep blaming other peoples and nations for their
woes when all they need to do is to wake up from sleep? Now is the appointed time to ARISE FROM
SLUMBER, MAKE HAY AND PROGRESS IN ALL ENDEAVORS OF LIFE. Therefore, arise from
slumber and heal the nations. God bless you as you do so in the mighty name of
Jesus Christ. Shalom.
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