1 Kings 11

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !!!

“And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.”

Solomon’s story is very sad. He lived a very great life, yet at the end, everything came tumbling down. The numbers seen above are astronomical. This is a lot of wives and concubines. Interesting how often we read in the proverbs about the “love of women.” Proverbs 7:26 tells us “For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men.” Solomon knew what was right and never obeyed.

Think about this number. We are told in this chapter that the flesh years of Solomon started in his old age. I do not want you to think that all 1,000 wives and concubines came in those closing years. This was a fall he had been setting himself up for some time. Yet he was still able to serve the Lord before.

Was Solomon’s whole life a lie? If he had always been having these relationships, was not his whole life just one big sin?

The answer to this is, “No.” Solomon sincerely served the Lord for most of his life. He had a sincere love for the Lord and he wanted to serve God through everything he had. Unfortunately, Solomon had a weakness. He never allowed this weakness to takeover, however, he never killed it. A little compromise here and a little compromise there and all of a sudden, in the later years of his life, Solomon starts to serve other gods. It was not the other gods he cared for but it was his original sin that he had never killed.

Gang, I want to challenge you. Be careful. You may be serving the Lord right now and doing great things for Him, yet have this one fleshly thing you are yet to let go of. Let go. Cast the burden on Jesus, for He cares for you. Do not live this productive life for the Lord, and then allow this life sin to take over your life when you are weak. Build yourself up in Jesus, and allow Him to have complete control of your life.