week of 5/31/11 5th recorded HighQuest 1 Kings 11:1-13

The passage I read was 1 Kings 11:1-13

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+11%3A1-13&version=NIV

My attempt to summarize:

King Solomon disobeyed the Lord by having “relations” with those whom the Lord said “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Following his disobedience to God, Solomon ended up just as God said he would. As a result, God punishes Solomon for his disobedience and turning to other gods.

As I reflect:

In Genesis 2:23-24, we see God’s design for marriage is for one man and one woman to become one flesh. At every point throughout Biblical history that we see a man take more than one wife or concubine, we also see something go severely wrong as a direct result of such adulterous relationships. Matthew 19:4-6 reiterates the design that God has for us. So Solomon was already in direct violation of the design of God for our lives. A top that, he was also directly disobedient to the word of God to him which said not to take of these foreign women. So we know looking back, that this would not end well for him. We can easily reflect upon this passage comparing it to our own lives.

1: are we in an adulterous relationship against our spouse in the flesh (wife/husband) or against God?

If either is true, then immediate repentance is required or surely you will find yourself at an end which is just. Our God is just. Make no mistake about it, having a relationship with God does not take accountability from your life. You are still accountable for your decisions and you actions.

2: Are we living in direct violation of what God has told us to do or not to do?

Again, if either is true, then immediate repentance is required or surely you will find yourself at an end which is just.

Accountability for our actions doesn’t always mean a physical punishment will be given to us. Sometimes it instead means something will be taken away. In the case of Solomon it is his kingdom which is taken. Specifically, the punishment was a generational one which would befall his son. Thankfully, the Lord chose to be merciful upon Solomon and take into account the close relationship the Lord had with Solomon’s father David.

In our case, our choice to enter willingly into a sinful lifestyle also has a just level of accountability. God will not enter into sin with you. So when you enter willingly into sin, you walk away from the Holy Spirit and from the blessings that have been promised to those who would faithfully walk upright with God. Solomon didn’t just make a mistake, he chose to live in a way which was in direct contradiction to how God said to live. He willfully chose a disobedient lifestyle. This is much different than making a mistake or backsliding, or slipping up here or there. We all make mistakes. But to live in a life which separates you from God is to willingly take a ticket of eternal separation from Our Lord. You cannot be saved and continue to live in sin. You cannot say that you walk in the light if in fact you are walking in the dark. 1 John 5 is one of many great chapters in the Bible which more deeply explain sin and death vs. our relationship with God. Take verse 3&4 for example, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” There are a great multitude of similar verses throughout the Word that are designed to help us separate what it is to have a saving relationship with God vs. just knowing who he is and yet living the same as everyone else (even his enemies). An evidence of salvation is clear separation from the way the unsaved live. An evidence of salvation is a willingness and desire to do what the Lord ask of us; to follow his commands. An evidence of salvation is abiding in the word of God. Solomon in the passage read today, lacked these evidences. He didn’t play by the rules and so he will not receive the victor’s crown (2 Timothy 2:5). We should take the example of his accountability as a reminder and as encouragement to be faithful to how God has told us to live. Let our actions speak as loud and even louder than our words. May we not commit adultery against God by bonding with the world instead of Him. May we show Him and others by our actions that He is our reason for living.

My response to the Lord:

Father, I am thankful to have a way to speak to you and a way by which you speak to me. I am thankful to be an adopted child of God. I am thankful for your word and for your Holy Spirit’s guidance here with me. I am thankful for you and I pray that my actions would reflect how great a value it is to me to know you and be known by you. May my actions and my words never contradict my dedication to following after you. When I do mess up and sin, please quickly convict my heart to turn from that sin and repent fully that I would never become so comfortable in sin as to turn away from you and serve the “gods” of this world. Father, you are the One True God and I live to serve you. In Jesus’ name I pray.