Thursday 27 Feb 2014

Thursday Reading: 1 Kings 11:9-13

Key Verse: 1 Kings 11:12
Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

Devotion:
When we are young, be it young in Christ or young in age, we tend to accept some things without too much questioning; one of those things that I always accepted was that Solomon was rich, wise and loved God, the same as his father David. But when we actually get down and read carefully through the book of the Old Testament we do find out a whole new side of things. This is the real world that we are living in and the people are real people; none of us is perfect!

David had his problems which stopped him from being allowed to build the temple for God. Solomon was picked to build the temple, built it, loved God and showed great wisdom… right up until he turned away from God! That is something that many would not be able to grasp; how can someone as wise as Solomon turn away from God when God had given him so much wisdom? The answer to that is one that we can only guess at. My guess being that the ways of the world tempted him, just as they tempt us, and he gave in to those ways.

This is a recurring theme right throughout the bible, people draw close to God, get comfortable with Him, and then start going astray because they see everyone else around them not obeying God! Why should we be the only ones who stand up for God when everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves in the world? Well, life with God can be tough because we do have to make a stand against so much; but the results of that standing are far more than we could ever hope for as a reward from this earth!

Even when God does come down on us to try and straighten us out, He will always leave a path that not just leads back to Him, but one that we can handle! God will not totally destroy us like He did with the flood because He has promised never to do that again. But when the time comes for us to be called into heaven, don’t expect Him to turn a blind eye to the people who never accepted Him as God! God is just. That means that He will do what is right! We may not like that, but we should recognise it as being right.

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you have messed up?

Are you asking God to guide you back?