May 15, 2020
“For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been." 1 Kings 11:4
He was the wisest man in the world, made so by God.
How could this happen? Solomon had one sin that was evident. He “loved foreign women.” God had warned him, but he refused to heed God’s clear warning. The result was that he lost his intimacy with Christ and ultimately lost his kingdom. His sin, seemingly harmless and explainable to him and others I'm sure, affected his sons and all those who followed. A tragic ending to an otherwise well-used, faithful life.
COMPETING AFFECTIONS
He knew (because God had warned him) that if he "loved many foreign women," his wives would "turn his heart away after their gods."
This is a consistent principle that God speaks to us repeatedly: if you have an affection for something God has forbidden, it will gradually turn your heart to the god behind that affection. You will not be a man after God's own heart, like David was, but a man whose heart is turned away after other gods, like Solomon.
Where is our secret affection? Where is it in my life or yours that we think we are above God’s warnings? Where we think we can cheat the system by holding on to one pet sin with no consequences?
If you want the possibility of losing it all and affecting many generations that follow you, hold tightly to your sin. If you long for an enduring legacy of a faithful life until the end, release the hold on your sin. It cannot substitute for what God can give.
Father, reveal my fault-lines. Search my heart and show me the groundwork there. You see ahead, O Lord, so show me what would take me down and harm others. And then, redeeming Lord, give me the grace to say “Yes” to Your reproof. Forgive my sin, but also purge that sin from my life and let me aggressively cooperate with You in the process.
February 20, 2025
If you have questions about how real, how present, how personal and intimate the Lord is, then just read six words of travelogue in Luke’s journal as he traveled with Paul.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
