DIATHEKE

Diatheke is a Greek Word which translates in English to Testament or Covenant.

My Pastors always say another name for Christianity is Responsibility. Often times, we think when God makes us a promise or shows us a vision, we have nothing else to do but just wait on God and that's far from the truth.

Yes waiting on God is an important part of the process, but our waiting on God is never an idle type of wait. With everything God promises us or every vision he shows us, we have a part to play. If we didn't, He wouldn't have shown it to us. He would have just gone ahead to do it without us.

I’ve been reading the book of Kings lately and 1 Kings 5 & 6 has really brought a deeper understanding of how the promises of God work. Much of Solomon's blessings, were actually prayers from the mouth of David and the promises that God made to David concerning Solomon.

In Psalm 72 David was the one who prophesied that Solomon would have wide-reaching dominion. It was David who declared that Solomon would be beloved by the people and that the gold of Sheba would be brought to him. David was also the one who declared that Solomon would enjoy peace on every side.

As regards the building of the temple, it was God who promised David that Solomon would build a temple for Him; yet with all of these prophecies and promises in place, Solomon still had to work through all of it.

When Solomon first became King, he put God on notice in the very best way. He slaughtered 1,000 cattle which was way more than was required. Even though David had already prayed for wisdom and right judgement for Solomon in Psalm 72, this was the move that helped Solomon step into the promise of wisdom. It was after this lavish sacrifice that God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him to ask for anything. Solomon could have asked for any other thing but because he was conscious of his father's prophecy and last prayers, he asked for wisdom.

There are 2 very important lessons that I took out from this text that this paragraph talks about;

          1) Sacrifice provokes manifestation of blessings

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          2) Alignment causes you to enter into your inheritance.

God makes promises to us, shows us visions and gives us prophecies, so we know exactly how to act and conduct ourselves. In 1 Kings 6, when Solomon went ahead to align with what God told David, that his heir would build God a temple, God reiterated yet another promise.

God told Solomon in vs 11 &12 that regarding this temple he was building if Solomon kept His laws and statutes, He Yahweh would keep all of the promises He made to David concerning Solomon.

Now while this sounds normal, it was actually a little odd. It was Odd because reading from Verse 5, we see that Solomon is already the wisest King alive. He knew everything about everything from plants and animals to philosophy and everything in-between.

He had written 3,000 proverbs and Kings from everywhere travelled to hear his wisdom.

Solomon was already insanely wealthy. He was feeding other Kings and their households (The King of Tyre). He had 4,000 horse stalls and 12,000 riders. Solomon also had peace on every side, no enemies, and no conflict and He was also already building the temple of God in question.

So let's do a quick list check;

Wisdom check

Wealth Check

Peace Check

Temple building Check.

So what did God mean? All of the promises already seem fulfilled. When I read this though, the Holy Spirit told me that God is the God that can sustain your entire life with the same promises He made to you from the beginning. The promises of God are as multifaceted as God Himself is and there are levels of fulfilment to God's promises to us. There are levels of success, there are levels of grace, there are levels of wealth and there are levels of wisdom. There is always more with God and the level at which you plateau is the level at which you stop walking in obedience and alignment.

While it is important to believe the promises God has made to you, it is futile if you do not walk, talk, think and take steps in line with those promises. Aligning to God’s words and promises over your life is very much about walking in perfect obedience to the instructions that accompany those prophecies and visions. When God cuts a deal with us via a prophecy, a vision or a word, when He plays His part, we have to play ours. This is the basis of our Covenant with God and this is what Diatheke means in our walk with God. Responsibility for your assigned role in God’s work.