STARTING OFF WELL; ENDING UP POORLY
Carey Madding
Today's Scripture: “Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.” 1 Kings 11:11, ESV
Theme: Even if we have godly wisdom and influence, if we abandon our God and His laws, we will lose His favor and blessing and experience moral failure.
TOO BIG FOR MY BRITCHES
The well-meaning counselors warned me that college would be difficult. They informed me that high school had been easy for me, and I wasn’t used to working hard or studying to make the grades. So, my first semester at University, I worked like a frantic honeybee. And I came away with fantastic grades and invitations by some professors to take some higher-level classes the following semester. I was thrilled. I also quit working hard, because clearly, I was brilliant and did not need to study like other kids. The next semester, I got a C in honors chemistry and a D in Calculus. Those were the worst grades of my entire academic career—they came because I got “too big for my britches” as my mom would have said.
THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
In my daily Bible readings, I have been going through 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. It would be impossible to list all the kings who started off “doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” I think of King Saul, who decided he was holy enough to offer his own sacrifices to the Lord instead of waiting on the prophet Samuel as God instructed. King Solomon, who in our verse for the day, quit following God wholeheartedly. King Asa made great reforms and turned the hearts of the people back to the Lord, and God responded by giving Asa a mighty victory. But shortly afterwards, Asa made pacts with foreign kings, instead of trusting the One True God. And he lost a major battle, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God” (2 Chronicles 16:7a, ESV).
King Uzzia was blessed beyond measure because he did what God asked, he listened to godly leaders, and he tore down the idols that had risen in the land. The Bible says God gave him great favor, and “his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong” (2 Chronicles 26:15b, ESV). The very next verses detail his pride, irreverence of God, his punishment, and his death.
IN OUR LIVES
It is easy to serve God for a season. It is even possible to serve God for decades, experience His blessing and His favor, yet lose it all. People who were once godly leaders often fail because of pride. Maybe they experience a public moral failure. Still, sin most likely gains that stronghold because pride had first entered in and convinced the believer that he or she is above temptation. I think of Judas, who many suggest betrayed the Lord Jesus because he thought that this would be the catalyst for His Kingdom to be made public. Is it possible that we try to “help” the Lord get more publicity or fame via sinful ways? Or that we become “too big for our britches” regarding the power of sin?
Make It Personal: I’m sure you can think of Christian leaders who have fallen. Pray for them. I can think of a few who have “jumped the shark” to draw attention to a ministry or church, probably thinking this would be evangelistic, but it backfired and became a matter of ridicule. Rather than focus on these public examples, I need to examine myself. You do, too. “Check yourself before your wreck yourself” applies to us all, no matter what age, no matter what marital status, no matter if we have a platform or if we serve behind the scenes. Is there anything in our lives that does not bring glory to God?
Pray: Lord, I want to serve You well. I want to finish my race strong and receive Your approval. Father, protect me from pride; protect me from temptation; most of all, protect me from a self-sufficiency that improperly tells me I am doing fine on my own. I need You. I need Your Spirit’s power to overcome sin and His conviction if I get off track. I love You Lord and want to honor You to the very end of my life. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
Read: 2 Chronicles 15:1-2, 8-9, 12, 15, 16:1-3, 7-10, 26:1-5, 15-21
Weekly Memory Verse: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV