Putting On Airs

Rehoboam was not his father, Solomon. He did not have his wisdom. He did not even rule the same kingdom, because he had been proud and listened to the young advisers, instead of the wise ones. As a result, ten tribes left to form the country of Israel, and he was left with two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. However, Rehoboam did not want to admit his failures. He "put on airs" to make it seem like he had more than he had. That was especially true after the king of Egypt, Shishak, came and took the treasures of the house of the Lord. To cover up the absence of the golden shields Rehoboam had them make cheap bronze shields to take their place. He did not leave them out where people would notice the difference. He only had them brought out for short periods of time, when he came into the house of the Lord. He was fooling other people and fooling himself into thinking He still had the wealth of his father.(I Kings 14:27,28)

Many people have this problem of being a fake. They want people to like them or respect them, but they have to act like something they are not to try to make it happen. We call this being a hypocrite, too. We are putting on a show for the public, but the truth is really quite different from the show. This is a terrible flaw, because Jesus is "Truth." He never wants us to put on airs to deceive people. He desires for us to live by the truth all of the time. Then, when people are drawn to us, it is for the right reason. Jesus knows when we are being fake, anyway, and He is not impressed by our lack of honesty or humility. I pray that we will always strive to please Him, not other people.

Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 15-17.