November 3, 2012 It's Not About You

It’s Not All About You 1 Kings 11:1-6 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter — Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. YOU read here one of the most tragic paragraphs in the Bible. 1 Kings is primarily the story of how God blesses this man with extraordinary wisdom that leads to incredible wealth for himself and his nation. Under Solomon’s reign, Israel experiences peace, bounty and respect among the earth’s nations. Solomon’s reign is a picture of the fullness of God’s promise to bless his people. But then you read this. Solomon’s wisdom left him when it came to women. He thought he could disobey God and still receive God’s blessings. He thought he could worship God while worshiping horrible idols. He thought he could have life both ways, the ways he wanted it. “Wise” Solomon thought wrong. As a result of Solomon’s sin, God would remove his blessing from Solomon’s family. Solomon’s sin raged through the generations. People suffered and died, and a Kingdom was divided because one man let go of God’s wisdom. It’s True! Your sin is never only about you.