2 Chronicles 2:1-12. As he begins the work of building the temple, Solomon writes to the king ofTyre to barter for tradesmen and cedar. The majority of this passage is Solomon's letter. He is writing to Huram, King of Tyre, not a fellow Jew. He is writing, that is, as one worldly leader to another. But his letter is anything but secular - it is infused with his joy and love for his God! He writes (to this non-Jewish king) "Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate to it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him..." He goes on to list all the offerings that will be made there, and says "The house which I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him...?" About two-thirds of the way through, he finally gets to the point of asking for tradesmen and cedar, offering wheat, barley, wine, and oil and exchange. Huram writes back, agreeing to Solomon's request, and saying the Israelites' God must truly love his people to have given them Solomon for a king and "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son... who will build a temple for the Lord."

Solomon has evangelized without even trying! He is just so in love with God that his letter to a foreign king lovingly describes the ceremonies and offerings that will be made in the temple he is proposing to build. He then acknowledges to this king that he, Solomon, is not even worthy of building this temple. He also, clearly without intending offense, truthfully states that his God is greater than all other gods. It takes him two-thirds of his letter before he actually gets around to proposing the deal that he wants to make with Tyre!

As I was reading Solomon's letter, I was picturing this foreign king kind of rolling his eyes as he read it, wishing Solomon would get to the point, and maybe even being a little offended when Solomon says his God is greater than all other gods. I mean, I'm sure Huram had a god, and it wasn't the God of Israel! But no, when I got to Huram's response, he is lovely - praising Israel's God for giving them Solomon as a king, and acknowledging how great a God he is - that he made heaven and earth! So I don't know if Huram was predisposed to believe in Israel's God, maybe so. Or maybe Solomon's obvious love for his God (following that of his father, David, who also dealt closely with Huram), inspired Huram's enthusiastic response. Either way, though, it wasn't that Solomon was trying to evangelize - he just couldn't contain his joy and love.

When we are living in the light of God's love, it colors everything about us, we can't deny it or hide it, and we don't want to. Solomon obviously was not embarrassed about speaking of his God - he wasn't overcoming hesitation to try to "spread the word." He was just being himself - a man totally in love with God - and that is where we need to be. When we are totally there - we can't help but evangelize, and people respond to our true, authentic faith and love in a positive way. Our joy gives them joy, and it pulls them in. It is lovely!