1 Kings 1-11
Looking back over our recent study of King Solomon we saw that he started well but ended poorly. Many people do the same in their walk with the Lord. When a person gives their life to the Lord it is often a time of great rejoicing. As they dive into the Bible, attend church and pray, they grow in leaps and bounds. The old life is put off and the new life in Christ put on. But then somewhere along the way the glory of walking with the Lord begins to fade. There is a subtle change from focusing on the Lord back to the world. This is what happened to Solomon and is why this series of messages was titled “Slow Fade” after the song by Casting Crowns.
Solomon was blessed immensely by the Lord but the blessing was meant to be given to the world. Solomon began to take advantage of the blessing and use it for his benefit, comfort, and pleasure. As he became prideful he sought to bless himself more by going beyond the boundaries set by the Lord. In short, that which was given to bring glory to the Lord, Solomon used to bring glory to Solomon. Not only that, but as King, the people of Israel followed his lead and the Glory of the new Kingdom began to fade as well.
Today one of the popular marketing promotions is bundling several offerings together to get a lower overall price. We may not want all the things offered but in order to get the “deal” we have to buy the whole package. The same is true when we do a slow fade from our relationship with God. Though we may not think we are moving away from God we are actually turning our back on Him. This was evident in 1 Kings 10:11-13. Here God confronts Solomon but Solomon is not listening. This is rebellion. Rebellion occurs when God attempts to talk to us confronting our actions, but we are so focused on what we want to do that we are simply not listening. We are putting God off.
So what does God do? If we won’t listen to God, he will raise up adversaries to get our attention. That is what He did in Solomon’s case. Solomon was free to choose which path in life he chose to live. So are we. In fact we are often told to follow our heart or to do it our way, but every path in life, every path we choose is bundled with consequences. In this case God sent a warning and when Solomon didn’t listen, God sent adversaries in the form of enemies on the borders of Israel and enemies within. Though there was not a war that resulted, there was fear, and fear takes away peace. There is no peace in rebellion. Peace only comes when we surrender to God.
We will never be as rich or as wise as Solomon but we are blessed, blessed as a people and a nation. But, are we robbing God of the glory He intended to come from His blessing by keeping the blessing for ourselves and for our glory? Solomon started well but finished poorly. Neither did the nation end well as we will see in chapter 12. In fact we will see that the idols Solomon introduced to the kingdom remained until the kingdom was conquered and taken into exile some 400 plus years later. As one continues down the wrong path the price of bundling gets high. After the nation returned from the exile idols were not mentioned again but, the pattern of robbing God of the glory due Him rose again and again.
Here are some verses to consider:
Deuteronomy 4:1-8
Malachi
Ephesians 2:10
Matthew 28:18-20
Revelation 2&3
May all we do be for the Glory of God
Pastor Dave