MAY 31, 2026

 “The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough, that they didn't invest enough heart, didn't love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.” 

― Ted Hughes

2 CHRONICLES 1-3

7That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

11God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”(1:7-12)

JOHN 12:1-19

4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.^b ” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you,^c but you will not always have me.”

JOURNAL 

It always comes back to the heart.

What struck me in these passages is that Solomon's request wasn't really about wisdom. Wisdom was simply the expression of something deeper. His heart was centered on love. He loved his father David and wanted to honor what had been entrusted to him. He loved the people he had been called to lead and recognized that they belonged to God, not him. Most importantly, he loved God enough to know that he could not accomplish the task before him on his own. So when God offered him anything, Solomon asked for what would allow him to serve well rather than what would benefit him personally.

God's response is fascinating because He specifically points to Solomon's heart. He tells him that because he did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, revenge against his enemies, or a long life, He would give him wisdom and knowledge. Then God adds all the other things as well. In other words, when Solomon's heart was centered on loving God and serving others, God supplied everything necessary to support that calling. The wealth, influence, and resources were not the goal. They were tools given to accomplish a purpose that was rooted in love.

I think that's a pattern that runs throughout Scripture. When our hearts are truly centered on loving God and loving others, God often provides what is needed to carry out that mission. Not because He is rewarding us for good behavior, but because He supports what reflects His heart. The challenge is that our motives can become mixed. We can seek wisdom because we want influence. We can seek God because we want blessings. We can serve others because we want approval. Sometimes what looks spiritual on the outside is actually self-serving underneath.

That is what makes the story of Judas so revealing. Judas sounded compassionate. He argued that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. On the surface it sounded noble. But John tells us that Judas didn't actually care about the poor. His words and his heart were disconnected. The issue wasn't what he said. The issue was why he said it.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that God is always looking beneath the action to the motivation. He is not simply asking what we are doing. He is asking why we are doing it. Am I pursuing health because I love the life God has given me and want to steward it well? Am I working hard because I love and want to serve others? Am I chasing a goal because it allows me to love God and people more effectively? Or am I trying to prove something, protect myself, gain approval, or fill some emptiness inside?

Ted Hughes wrote that the only calibration that really counts is how much heart we invest and how much we are willing to love despite the risk of being hurt, embarrassed, or disappointed. I think that captures something deeply true. At the end of life, I don't believe anyone regrets not accumulating more possessions or status. The regret is usually that we didn't love more deeply, trust more fully, or live more courageously.

Solomon reminds me that when love is at the center, everything else finds its proper place. Wisdom becomes service. Wealth becomes stewardship. Influence becomes responsibility. Success becomes an opportunity to bless others. But when something else occupies that center, even good things can become idols.

God's promise through Jeremiah is simple: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Not part of our heart. Not the leftovers. All of it. Because in the end, what God has always wanted is not our performance. He wants our love. And when love becomes the center, everything else begins to align around it.

 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

JEREMIAH 29:13