I Kings 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
A Lesson on Self-Government and Ownership
Would you like more control or less? Would you like more possessions or fewer? I realize these are broad questions, and you would probably have some questions before you could answer them. But it is our natural instinct to want more power, more control, and more possessions. These natural desires are the very thing the devil will often use to destroy us.
I Kings 21 is the story of a man, King Ahab, who owned a palace, and a man, Naboth, who owned a vineyard. Now Naboth did not have the wealth that the king had, but what Naboth did have was a vineyard. Ahab had money and a palace, but he didn’t have a vineyard. That’s the one thing he wanted, Naboth’s vineyard. Perhaps he wanted the vineyard precisely because he didn’t have it.
What did Ahab do? The Bible tells us that he pouted, quite literally. He laid on his bed, turned away his face, and wouldn’t eat. His wicked wife, Queen Jezebel, came and basically said, “Are you the king or not?” That was a loaded question. Do you think Ahab was truly in charge of this kingdom? What follows is that Jezebel made a scheme to kill Naboth and give her husband the vineyard.
Now there are two principles regarding personal government and ownership that we can learn from this terrible story. The first is that a man who cannot govern himself has no business governing others. Ahab could not govern the kingdom or Jezebel because he could not govern himself. If you have to manipulate people and resort to temper tantrums then the fact is that you are not even governing yourself.
Secondly, your happiness hinges less on what you own and more on what owns you. Verse 25 says that Ahab “did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD.” That tells us that though Ahab wished to buy a vineyard, he was really selling his soul. A person who is most concerned about getting what he wants regardless of the cost is not buying happiness, he is selling his soul. Who was content with what he had, Naboth or Ahab? Who had more, Naboth or Ahab? Who was truly the richer of the two, Naboth, the man who had what he wanted and wanted what he had, or Ahab, the man who merely wanted what he did not have?
We need to remember to govern ourselves well and be thankful to God Who daily provides the blessings that we enjoy.