Day 101 - 1 Kings 10-11

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 101 - 1 Kings 10-11  (Solomon's Sins)
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"But King Solomon loved many foreign women,...Solomon clung to these in love.  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.  For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David....Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.  And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods."  (1 Kings 11:1-8)

There are many things in the Bible that are hard to believe yet when carefully reflected upon by the serious student of the Word actually mirror everyday human experiences.  Aaron, Moses's brother and annointed first priest of God makes a golden calf and tells the people to worship it.  Moses in his anger breaks the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments written by the very hand of God.  David, the recipient of God's promise that the throne of his kingdom will be establised forever.  

Now, we read in our text that Solomon, to whom God appeared twice and like a genie told Solomon to ask for anything and God would give it, blatantly disregards God's specific commands to him not to multiply his wives (he had one thousand) because those women will lead him astray to worship their idols which he ended up doing.  

Although hard for some like me to believe, the sins committed by these heroes of the faith actually mirror human nature of sinfulness.  The failures of these spiritual giants only goes to show that no person, no matter how spiritual he may be, is immune from temptation and sinning.  The Bible says that the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;..."  (Jeremiah 17:9)   This begs the question, "how can I avoid sinning against God just like Solomon sinned against Him?"

It is helpful for the devout beiever who sincerely seeks to live a holy and obedient life to understand his weaknesses that are most likely to cause him or her to sin.  For many, it is sexual temptation.  For others, it is the desire to be rich or it may be lying or anger issues.  Satan always attacks the believer in his weak spots so it is imperative that we recognize what they are and to put up hedges to protect ourselves from temptation.

One example of the hedges I put up in my own life to guard against my weakness is to not allow my fingers to click a picture of a pop up of any tempting iamge on my computer that could lead me into sinning with my eyes.  Another is never allowing myself to be in the company of another woman alone beside the women in my own family.  Had Solomon put up similar hedges for himself, he would have avoided the sins he committed.

What about you?  Do you recognize what your weaknesses are that lead you into sin?  Are you willing to put up hedges of protection to guard yourself from temptation?  If you do have the longing to live a holy life and to avoid sin, I praise God for you and pray that God will show you what you need to do in putting up hedges of protection to guard your heart from temptation and sinning.