​How much is enough?

    Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps and a rounded back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
    All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!
    The king had a fleet of trading ships of Tarshish that sailed with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. (1 Kings 10:18–22)


Solomon had the best of everything, and of some things he had more than anyone else did. We have to ask: How much is enough? In our culture the temptation to upgrade is constant, isn’t it? Do we even recognize it as temptation? Not every upgrade is a sin, but how do we discern among the many options? That’s a good question, but not the first one to ask. First is: How much can I give? Then we can begin to sort out lifestyle options.

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.” — C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Solomon spared no expense in providing for himself, and it was his undoing.