Monday, August 9: 1Kings 11-Diligence and discernment

Two thoughts swirled as I read this chapter…

First, Solomon and all his wives. How did this man whom God spoke with on two occasions slide so far from faithfulness to God? It seems his slide began with him pursuing natural passions outside of the bounds God has set.  In Solomon’s case his downfall was sexual passions. He married women from forbidden people. He allowed them to continue worshipping their false gods, he built shrines for their false gods and eventually he fell into worshipping these false gods himself. O, how the mighty have fallen.

God’s single word for me is Diligence! Be diligent in my pursuit of God and my restrain of natural desires which war against my soul. Peter warns of this very thing in 1Peter 2:11… be diligent.

Secondly, how Solomon seems to have been played by Pharaoh. A few chapters ago we are told that Solomon took Pharaoh’s daughter in an alliance (3:1).  Yet throughout this chapter I read how Pharaoh (sometimes in David’s, reign, his father, and sometimes in Solomon’s reign) harbored fugitives and enemies of Israel (see vv 17-ff and 40). Solomon may have been exceedingly wise but apparently he was used by Egypt and her kings.

A second single word came to me… Discernment.  Be discerning about the friends and associates you keep. Not everyone who purports to be a friend or ally is,  Be discerning.

Such was my morning in God’s word…

Lord, I pray for diligence. I pray for it when it comes to my walk with you. I pray that your Holy Spirit develop diligence in my life, that He shows me when and where I grow lax and compels me to deal with those areas. Lord, to allow me discernment in my life, to know how to use the gifts you have given and to be wise in the relationships I develop and foster, that they will lead me closer to You, Lord Jesus, closer to You. Amen.

 

 

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