April 15 - II Chronicles 9-12
The Bible tells us in this passage that Solomon surpassed all of the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. The queen of Sheba came and verified this for everyone. Solomon's wealth and wisdom must have been amazing. However, what was the end of all of this? Did God continue to bless Israel because of Solomon? Did Solomon pass down a godly heritage to his son, Rehoboam? Was there a lasting legacy? I am sad to say that as soon as Solomon died, God divided the kingdom. He did this because of the sin that had developed in His people, but he used the lack of wisdom on Rehoboam's part to bring it about. The son of the wisest man in history did not receive enough wisdom from his father or from God to lead the people in the right way. Some would say it was because he listened to the younger advisers, but I think the reason is really found in II Chronicles 12:14: "He did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord." When we fail to seek the Lord, we will not act wisely, but when we fail to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord, we will miss Him every time. Life is not an exercise of human intelligence, because no one is smart enough to do God's will by himself. Life is to be lived by the revelation of God to us. We must prepare our hearts to receive that revelation from God on a daily basis, or we will drift away from Him and miss His way.
The story of Solomon repeats itself all of the time. We receive the wonderful blessings of God, but then, we begin to think we can do His will on our own. We get saved by grace through faith, because we know we can't save ourselves, but then we begin to live by works. We forget to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord in humility each day, and we think we can do it ourselves today. No one can do anything by himself or herself. Jesus bluntly told us that "without me you can do nothing." It is easy to drift from God once we have what we need. We must not allow that to happen, because what we need most each day is the Lord, Himself. The unhurried time we spend with Him each day must be a time when we prepare our hearts to seek Him, and we seek Him. Then, when He speaks, we listen and obey. That is God's plan for a fruitful life of peace and joy. Rehoboam missed this way, and many people miss it still today. I hope you are not one of them.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-16.
The story of Solomon repeats itself all of the time. We receive the wonderful blessings of God, but then, we begin to think we can do His will on our own. We get saved by grace through faith, because we know we can't save ourselves, but then we begin to live by works. We forget to prepare our hearts to seek the Lord in humility each day, and we think we can do it ourselves today. No one can do anything by himself or herself. Jesus bluntly told us that "without me you can do nothing." It is easy to drift from God once we have what we need. We must not allow that to happen, because what we need most each day is the Lord, Himself. The unhurried time we spend with Him each day must be a time when we prepare our hearts to seek Him, and we seek Him. Then, when He speaks, we listen and obey. That is God's plan for a fruitful life of peace and joy. Rehoboam missed this way, and many people miss it still today. I hope you are not one of them.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-16.