Faithless Disobedience
We are all guilty of faithless disobedience at various times in our lives. This is a very serious sinful condition. Sometimes, it is hard for us to understand why we faithlessly disobey God. We need to get a handle on these kind of sins, so we can defeat them in God's power. Solomon's life has some valuable insights for us. God was furious with Solomon for abandoning Him for other gods. God had met with Solomon on two occasions to assure him that he would be blessed if he obeyed God and destroyed if he didn't. Solomon still faithlessly disobeyed God. (I Kings 11:9,10) How could that have happened to the wisest man who ever lived, a man who had everything he could ever want because God blessed him? Let's see what we can discern.
Solomon heard from God in person twice, and He knew God's Word. He broke what he knew God had told him. That is being faithless. He did not trust what God said, but he trusted in what he thought was best. It is obvious that Solomon directly disobeyed God's order not to marry pagan wives. I believe he did this out of pride, so he would be in good with the Pharaoh of Egypt and the other kings in the region. Any time we act in pride, and we want to promote ourselves, we are in danger of not listening to what God has told us in His Word and what He has spoken to our hearts. We get to the place where what others think of us is more important than what God thinks of us. We must stay away from that by humbling ourselves daily. Also, Solomon was overtaken by sexual desires which led him to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. Those wives led him to other gods. God had made it clear that even having two wives was not right, so again He broke God's law. However, we often underestimate the lust of the flesh. If we give in to the desires of the flesh, we are in danger of being faithlessly disobedient to God. We must flee sexual immorality and do whatever it takes to flee from the other sources of fleshly temptations, while being diligent to be filled with God's Spirit, so we have His direction and power to do the right thing. Then, we can and will be faithful by doing what His Word and the Spirit tell us to do.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 12-14.
Solomon heard from God in person twice, and He knew God's Word. He broke what he knew God had told him. That is being faithless. He did not trust what God said, but he trusted in what he thought was best. It is obvious that Solomon directly disobeyed God's order not to marry pagan wives. I believe he did this out of pride, so he would be in good with the Pharaoh of Egypt and the other kings in the region. Any time we act in pride, and we want to promote ourselves, we are in danger of not listening to what God has told us in His Word and what He has spoken to our hearts. We get to the place where what others think of us is more important than what God thinks of us. We must stay away from that by humbling ourselves daily. Also, Solomon was overtaken by sexual desires which led him to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. Those wives led him to other gods. God had made it clear that even having two wives was not right, so again He broke God's law. However, we often underestimate the lust of the flesh. If we give in to the desires of the flesh, we are in danger of being faithlessly disobedient to God. We must flee sexual immorality and do whatever it takes to flee from the other sources of fleshly temptations, while being diligent to be filled with God's Spirit, so we have His direction and power to do the right thing. Then, we can and will be faithful by doing what His Word and the Spirit tell us to do.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 12-14.