Good morning, everyone!
Today I read 1 Kings 10-11.
First, Solomon met the Queen of Sheba. She heard of his wisdom, and wanted to meet him to test it for herself. So, she arrived carrying bounty for another ruler: camels, spices, gold, and precious stones.
She tested Solomon with many questions, and because of his wisdom, he was able to answer all of them. She was very impressed and she blessed the Lord God of Israel for the wisdom He had given to Solomon.
When Solomon followed God's commandments, even other nations heard of the Lord, and His greatness. Even other nations feared King Solomon and Israel because of their mighty God.
But Solomon turned away from God. See, Solomon loved women. And he took many wives from many nations, including nations God had instructed the Israelites not to mingle with.
So, in addition to the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon married first, he had 700 wives and princesses, and 300 concubines. And they were all from foreign nations. So, they turned his heart from God and convinced him to serve and worship other gods.
And God was displeased, because He had spoken directly with Solomon and given him great wisdom. This is also the first commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods besides me.
So, God spoke to Solomon and told him that because of this wicked thing he had done, God would take the kingdom from his descendants. God would allow Solomon to continue his rule because of the faithfulness of his father David.
Now, as we know, David sinned to. We all have. But when David was confronted with his sin, he fell on his face and repented, begging God's forgiveness. He never served other gods, because he was "a man after God's own heart." Even when he sinned.
So, the kingdom will be taken from Solomon's son, all except one tribe, for the sake of David.
Sometimes we mess up. But it's important to seek God's forgiveness earnestly and sincerely. Like David.
It's easy to look at this part of Solomon's story and pass judgment. "I would never serve other gods like that!"
But something I've been learning is that anything can be made into a god. Anything that takes your time away from God, anything that you value more than your time with God, or anything that you place higher than God can become an idol.
This can be a hobby, sports, celebrities, family, friends, activities. Anything can become an idol if we aren't careful.
Today, I encourage you to sit down with God and ask Him to reveal hidden idols in your life. If there are any, do you need to remove them completely, or can He help you to scale back the time you spend with them, replacing that time with time spent with Him and in His Word, so that whatever it is will no longer be more important to you than Him.
I've already had to do this in my own life, and I was really surprised at what God revealed to me. So, as an example: I love to read. It is my favorite hobby. Sometimes I can read for hours, and there are times when there is nothing I want more than to sit and read my book. Even in the morning, when I'm supposed to be spending time with God. I'm still working on that, but it's a lot better than it was.
But some things I used to read did not glorify God, or edify me. So, I've had to cut them out completely.
Now, let me clarify something: I still read a lot of books, but before, I didn't care so much what I read. If I could read it, I would. Romance novels, for example. I can't believe some of the thoughts I still have sometimes because I opened my mind up to what's in those books.
Now, I don't only read Christian non-fiction books. I still read fiction books, but I have to be careful about the kinds of books I read and how much time I pour into that. Even Christian books can become idols if we aren't careful.
So, that's my story.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read 1 Kings 12-14.
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