Slideshow image

In today's reading, 1st Kings 9 and 2nd Chronicles 8, I am disappointed in Solomon. The reading begins by God accepting Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple and doubling down on the ramifications of not living up to the covenant… which is to put Him before all others. In 1st Kings 9:6–7 we read,

"But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples."

Spoiler alert: Just a couple chapters over we read in chapter 11, the second half of verse 4,

"…His heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been."

This is so sad. As we read we collectively think, "How could he!?" But honestly how many times have we witnessed or even been party to a similar path? Without surrendering to Jesus as Lord, and intentionally striving to surrender to His Holy Spirit, I've seen so many people be led astray over time. We start compromising our values, allowing other influences to dictate what we think rather than standing firm on what the Lord God has commanded us.

And notice how it happened to Solomon… it's not the way we'd expect. He didn't wake up one day and renounce God. His heart got divided a little at a time, and to keep the peace he started accommodating. Look at 1st Kings 11:7–8 where Solomon built high places for Chemosh and for Molech, and for all his foreign wives,

"who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods."

He built the altars himself. He didn't just fail to speak up… he provided the very platform for the idolatry. That's the terrifying part. His compromise didn't look like defiance; it looked like a man valuing the choices of the people he loved over the truth of the God he served. And a little accommodation here, a little there, until,

"his heart was not wholly devoted."

For the love of God and for the people He's put around us, we have to want their surrender to the one true God more than we want to keep the peace by building them a place for their gods.

When I read through these two chapters I am shaking my head and thinking, "No Solomon, don't compromise." And then the rebuke finds its home in my heart and mind, "Are you any different? What areas are you compromising in?"

Takeaway: Be true to God. Don't compromise His truth. Think of one way today that you can stand firm before God as you love Him and those He's put around you.