1 Kings 10-11, 2 Chronicles 9

Posted on Jun 22, 2016 in Reading the Bible in 2016 |

Wednesday

In our reading today, there is a little word that carries such great significance. Do you know what it is?

“But” (NKJV – other translations may use the word “however”, the meaning is the same and so is the outcome) Between chapters 10 and 11 something quite significant happens in the life of the very wise Solomon. He had all that anyone could want, wealth, fame, wisdom – God’s blessings and then Chapter 11 starts – But… He makes some very bad choices. God told him to not to do what he did. God was pretty clear in what He wanted from Solomon… “but” apparently fame, wealth and wisdom went to Solomon’s head and he fell. So what did Solomon do wrong? I recognize at least three things.
  1. Don’t worship any other gods. How complicated is that command? (Exodus 34:14) Solomon brought into his palace women who worshipped many foreign gods and to please them, Solomon allowed them to bring their gods with them and then he too started worshipping them. Which brings us to the second thing Solomon did wrong.
  2. He married too many women, and too many foreign women. What was God’s command about that? (Exodus 34:15-16 and Deuteronomy 7:3-4) And why does God warn the Israelites from intermarrying? For the exact reason that has happened to Solomon. They turned him away from the one True God. Which brings me to the third thing I see Solomon doing wrong.
  3. Solomon became to obsessed with stuff. He started accumulating things; horses and gold and chariots and silver, and cedar and…. You get the point. Whenever we start to obsess over things, our focus is taken off of God and the “stuff” becomes our gods as well.

Now you have to realize that Solomon’s fall from grace did not happen overnight. It is a tactic that the evil one likes to use. He blinds us to the problems that we are creating as we are creating them. I’m sure Solomon didn’t see the harm in marrying his first foreign wife, why this could be a good thing – combining nations, making alliances – treaties, having peace between two countries. Sounds good doesn’t it? But like a cancer cell that starts out small, left unchecked will multiply and grow until it takes over the body and destroys it. Sin left unchecked in our lives will do the same thing. Oh dabbling in this paranormal stuff is innocent fun, having a couple of drinks is alright, gambling on the lottery is ok – besides it goes to a good cause, right? Being flirty with a co-work is harmless – until it becomes something more and families and lives are destroyed.

Sin is like a cancer that will worm its ugly way into our lives if we let our guards down. We are fighting a spiritual battle daily and the only way we can win is to stay close to Jesus and rely on the Holy Spirit to fill our lives with His presence to help convict us of the sins we casually commit. To help stop us before the “cancer” grows too large.

Abiding in the Spirit

Pastor Kathy

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