What It Is.....

 

I've been reading through 1 Kings recently and have found myself turning the life of King Solomon over and over in my mind. 

1 Kings 8:54 is especially fixed in my mind.....Solomon rose from the alter of the Lord where he had been on his knees with his hands lifted to heaven.

He had just recited a beautiful prayer to the Lord and led worship before the people....worship on his knees with his hands stretched to heaven.

I wondered how he went from this to chapter 11:9......."the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord."

The Lord was going to tear the kingdom from him and raise up adversaries against him.

What was it ?

What is the reason his heart left the blessings of God and ran willingly into the arms of the enemy?

What it is........what it always is, and always will be......he found a sin he couldn't refuse. 

A sin he loved so much that he abandoned the loving Lord Who had been good and kind to him.

A sin so inticing....so powerful.....he was willing to worship the enemy to have a passing taste of it. 

A sin he was willing to pay for eternally if he could just indulge for a few moments in this emptiness.

The sin? 

Loving women who turned his heart to worship their false gods.

False gods who required children to be sacrificed in the fire.

Really? 

This was his downfall?

This was something this man of wisdom wanted so desperately?

Every year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold.

He had a throne made of ivory overlaid with pure gold.

All his drinking vessels were made of pure gold.

He had a thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen and forty thousand stalls of horses.

The requirements to feed those around him each day was enough for three thousand people.

The Lord gave rest on every side there was no adversary or evil occurrance.....peace and plenty filled the nation.

God gave so much.

The notes in my Bible say......"God's good gifts were abused. The amount of luxury demonstrates the *sinful excess* that burdened the people and helped to bring down Solomon's empire."

Sinful excess..... important words.

Sometimes God blesses so much that people become distracted. 

Perhaps it's best to share the excess.

Maybe this is a warning to us that telling the flesh 'no' is a good discipline. 

God simply asked for a heart of obedience in return for the immense blessings.

Yet, with hands full of blessings, Solomon dropped the treasures received from God to run toward a dung hill.

He wallowed in it like a pig.

It seems he must have somehow enjoyed it because he never repented or returned to God.

Chapter 10 recounts Solomon's blessings.

Chapter 11 begins with an ominous word....."But"

But.... King Solomon loved..... something better than he loved God Who had been good and faithful to him.

Verse two says "he clung to these in "love."

Not really love...in sorrowful lust.

Sin makes fools of people.

But....some people love sin. Actually, lots of people love it.

And God answers with judgement.

Solomon became an open idoloter.

Why open? Why not at least keep it quiet?

Because sinners love approval and they want others to join in. It quiets any remaining tug of the Holy Spirit, Who is sent to warn us away from the pig sty. 

In time one can lay back in the mud with no conscience tugging at the mind.

Chapter eleven verse four broke my heart. "When Solomon was old....."

So sad.

To finally lose the way near the finish line.

May we have eyes to see.