How to be Smarter than King Solomon

I was reading 1 King 11 when a passage stood out like never before. Over the next few days I continued to ponder it.

“⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.” 1 Kings 11:4-6 NIV (emphasis mine)

In the chapter prior we read that the Queen of Sheba praised Solomon for his wisdom- she even gave credit to God for it, but a few verses later we see that even though Solomon had all this wisdom, he still wasn’t smart enough to stay dedicated to the one true God. 

Quick lessons from this text:

1.        Intelligence/wisdom doesn’t guarantee commitment to God.

2.        Having Godly parents doesn’t guarantee your own faith will be strong.

3.        And having everything handed to you doesn’t mean you will appreciate it.

A)      Solomon had wisdom beyond measure and he still turned from God.

B)       Solomon had David for an example (both good and bad) and he still didn’t honor God.

C)       Solomon had riches beyond our wildest imaginations as well as accomplishments no one else could boast of, but even all this wasn’t enough to ensure his commitment would remain strong to the God who had blessed him so lavishly.

This leads me to ask:

1.        What are you counting on to keep you faithful?

2.        How do you ensure your foundation remains in place and isn’t taken over by weeds?

3.        Are there things you need to let go of because they’re pulling you away from God?

4.        Do you need to repent and turn back to God? If so, you can take heart that God hears and He forgives- no questions asked, no justifications needed.

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV

God’s grace is what David clung to. He was far from perfect and yet he’s the only one described as a man after God’s own heart. It wasn’t David’s heroics or victories that made him special in God’s sight; it was that his heart longed to be near God. When it wasn’t, when the idol of selfishness crept in, David was willing to be corrected and to seek God. He expressed genuine repentance and this pleased God. 

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He does want us to continually seek Him. 

This wasn’t news to Solomon. He knew his father’s deeds. That David had committed adultery and tried to cover it up by murder. That he wasn’t the best father. In fact, David seemed to ignore when one son raped his daughter. He even took a census when he was instructed not to. Solomon knew all of this and more about his dad. But it wasn’t just his dad’s faults he knew. He knew how his dad praised God. He knew how his dad prayed, fasted and sought God.

Yet even with all of these examples, even with all his wisdom, Solomon still ignored God.  He intermarried those he wasn’t supposed to and let his heart be turned away. 

It’s easy to judge him. Having a couple thousand years perspective makes that easy.

It’s harder to look into our own lives and see the temples we’ve constructed to the gods in our lives. 

Maybe our temples are our homes, our cars, our careers, our bodies. 

Maybe our gods are self, money, fame, pride, good health, status.

The list goes on and on.

It doesn’t really matter what they are, they’re an abomination if they are keeping you from fully following the Lord.

Yes, we will all mess up. David’s a great example of a total mess up. But he’s also the perfect example of God’s unending grace and love.  (please tweet)

We can’t earn God’s mercy and grace.

We can’t justify ourselves in His sight.

We simply must cling to the promises of God, to His character and trust that God never changes.

He’s the same God today as He was with David.

So if you need to let go of some idols, if you need to repent, please do so.

The only thing holding you back is you.

A)      You’ll never be smart enough to get into heaven.

B)       You’ll never be talented enough to win your way into heaven.

C)       You’ll never be rich enough to buy your way into heaven.

D)      And the only family it matters that you’re born into is the family of God. That’s the only family going to heaven and genetics has nothing to do with it, only the cross and what you do with it matters.

Be smarter than Solomon, forsake your idols and turn back to God.

God’s waiting!

You BELIEVE What?

You’ve probably heard it said, “You’ve got to know, that you know, that you know” regarding your salvation (or at least some variation of that phrase).

One Sunday God revealed how imperative it is for believers to KNOW the Word of God inside and out! Now, I’ve always had this knowledge, but how God related it to me at this time gave it a whole new meaning.

I don’t want to bore you with medical talk or scare you either, but this is how God helped me understand how critical it is to KNOW His Word:

All nurses and doctors have CPR training… YET not all have actually USED this knowledge. In an emergency, not everyone trained and certified in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation can adequately perform it. That’s why you don’t just take the class once. You must recert every so often and depending on what area of medicine you work, there are various drills to help you stay sharp in this vital, life saving technique.  And those who actually use CPR on a regular basis can tell if someone isn’t comfortable performing it and/or are not adequately providing care to the patient.

God showed me that His Word is like CPR training. 

Knowing it is vital!

If I should ever need CPR performed on me, or a loved one, I pray the person(s) performing it KNOW what they’re doing and aren’t just giving it “their best shot”. 

The world needs Christian’s to KNOW the Word of God and not just “give it our best shot”. 

How many times have you heard someone say (or you’ve said it yourself) that someone is misquoting/using the Word of God?

That’s great that YOU realize that…but how many ignorant people don’t realize it? How many are being lead astray by those who intentionally, or not, misrepresent the Word of God?

How do you know that YOU are NOT being lead astray if you don’t know what the Word of God says?

You can’t take someone else’s word for what the Bible says…you MUST read God’s Word YOURSELF!

You’ve got to know what you believe and why you believe it! (Please Tweet) 

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” 1 Tim 4:1 NIV

Why would a believer of Christ abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits? 

One reason is that they don’t know the Word of God so it’s easy for them to be deceived. Some even think they ARE following God! 

If you don’t know something, it’s easy to be deceived.

When I was in my early twenties, my brakes were squeaking. I wanted to be grown up and take care of the problem myself.  So I took the car to a mechanic who swindled me out of a few hundred dollars. 

When I told my dad, he said I learned a very expensive lesson…I should have let him take a look at it first! He KNEW what should have been done to correctly fix the brakes, but in my ignorance and pride I thought I knew better and so I lost some cash. Lesson learned.

Our souls are far more precious than money and satan plays to win (tweet please). 

We must KNOW God!

We must KNOW His Word!

We must be PROACTIVE in fighting the deceptions from this world. The best way to do that is to get into the Word and let the Word get into you!

So what are you waiting for…start reading!

Don’t be an amateur Christian with handling the Word of God…be an expert, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15)! 

People’s souls are at stake…maybe even your own! 

You better: “know, that you know, that you know.”

He Laughs at His Children?

I learn so much about God, the Father, through my son.

Yesterday my toddler was trying to stack cars on top of each other on our couch (not an easy thing to do). 

He had finally managed to get two cars to “stay” stacked.

He was so proud. “I did it! I did it!”He screamed as he clapped his little hands together and looked to me for praise.

I was just starting to clap when our small dog ran across the couch, knocking the cars over.

Instantly, my son fell on the ground and started crying, “He knocked them over!”

 

It was hard to suppress my giggles as I picked him up and showed him we could re-stack the cars.

His tears dried immediately and he quickly forgot the incident as he enjoyed moving his cars around and stacking them again.

But his passionate reaction lingered in my mind.

How often do we throw temper tantrums like that over silly things that seem important to us?

How often does God chuckle as He watches us act like toddlers, unable to control our emotions, over the smallest situations?

How often do we forget to look to Him to help us rebuild?

As I write this, more revelations seep into my soul...

Do we look to Him for praise (as my son did me) for accomplishing small and large tasks? 

Do realize He’s right beside us in ALL that we do? 

Do we realize He WANTS to be involved?

Do we include God? 

God isn’t just God… He’s our Father.

He wants to praise us for our accomplishments.

He wants to pick us up when life knocks us down.

And yes, I think He does chuckle when we act ridiculously dramatic over small instances in life.

No matter our age, we are His little Children!