Turning Away from the Lord

Satan is very smart, even though he is not all-knowing like God. He and his demons can't read our thoughts, but they can see what we do and hear what we say. Then, they develop a strategy to turn us away from the Lord. Of course, first they want to keep us from trusting Jesus for salvation. However, if we get saved, they still want to get us to turn away from God, so we are not useful to His kingdom.

That is what happened to Solomon. He was very wise, but he fell for Satan's schemes. (I Kings 11:4) When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. His heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. This could happen to any of us, so we need to beware of how this happens.

Jesus told the disciples that the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Our flesh is our human nature with all of it's desires and needs. If we listen to the flesh, and we just decide to fulfill those desires and needs in our own way, we will turn away from the spiritual things. We will focus on ourselves and not on God. Then, we will drift farther and farther from God. 

Also, when we do what we know we shouldn't do. When we go against the Bible, thinking we are strong enough to handle some sins, we will be caught in that trap. Once we allow a little sin to come in, that sin will grow and grow until it takes our heart away from God. We will be double-minded, like James warns us against.  None of us are smart enough or strong enough to give in to the flesh and to sin, but still stay close to God and have a heart set on Him.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 12-14.