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In today's reading we switch away from Solomon's writing to the narrative of his life. As I warned yesterday, filling our minds with knowledge (pithy quotes) was never the goal. The goal is applying it, so that the wisdom we're maturing into becomes evident. What struck me in today's reading is the foreshadowing of how Solomon would end up, even after such a strong start.

In 1st Kings 6:12–13 God stops and speaks a warning to Solomon in the middle of his first monumental success,

"Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. 13 I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel."

Solomon is up to his elbows in blueprints and accounting charts with arguably the beginnings of the greatest temple ever constructed outside his window, and God says nothing of it. Rather, he speaks to what He desires most… his heart. The temple was never the point. God wanted Solomon's whole heart—his devotion.

Before we think that the ask is impossible—"How could I ever live up to the standard of God if the wisest man could not?"—think of his father. David was not perfect. He committed sin to a level I hope none of us ever sink to. But the grade God gives is not based on our lowest moment; it's based on what we do after we fall. God loved David because of his contrite, desperately dependent heart that continued to return to Him. He wanted that of Solomon, as He does of us.

Solomon started well — he loved the Lord, asked for wisdom over riches, wrote Proverbs teaching the fear of God. He is our best bet in the room to finish strong. But he stopped guarding his heart. He took foreign wives early which led to him making altars to  Chemosh and Molech on the hills around Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:1–8). The man who built the temple built high places too. Not in a day — one compromise at a time.

When we focus on the way that Solomon started—sought wisdom over wealth, obediently set about fulfilling God's purposes, and wrote Proverbs at the height of (midway through) his reign—we would lay bets on him finishing strong. But he stopped guarding his heart… and that didn't take place overnight. Early on he took foreign wives, even though God had warned Israel against that. That compromise led to his greatest downfall in setting up altars to Chemosh and Molech on the hills around Jerusalem (1st Kings 11:1–8). The man who built arguably the greatest temple ever, built high places to pagan gods too. Over time, through his compromise and unrepenting heart, he fell to his lowest level.

Starting well guarantees nothing. One’s gifting, success, or even knowledge does not result in ultimate victory if the heart quietly stops depending on Him. I’m convinced that the most dangerous seasons we walk through are not times of failure as much as they are times of success—moments where we could be tempted to think we had something more to do with the outcome than we actually did.

Whatever opportunities or good works God has allowed you to walk through (in career, family, ministry), they were never meant to replace our daily need for Christ. We don't grow in maturity past our need for desperate dependence on Him.

Takeaway: Stay humble, dependent, close to Him; the glory is His. Your finishing thought: not just starting well — finishing well.