Saturday, January 31, 2015

February 1, 2015

"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates." I King 11:4-11
If you have any doubts about the wisdom of listening to the advise of wise people, consider Solomon. He inherited the Kingdom of Israel when it was at its wealthiest, its highest point of influence, its most spiritually healthy and its greatest military strength. His father, David had trained him well and set him up for success. And when he came to the throne God offered to give him anything he wanted and he chose wisdom. That request pleased God and so Solomon was given great wisdom.
How great was Solomon's wisdom? It was so superior to any other wisdom that Kings and Queens came from all over the world to seek his advice. You could say that for a season of his life, Solomon's wisdom ruled the world.
But, tragically, Solomon did not end well. The verses above describe how badly it ended and all the really stupid decisions he made.
Why?
What happened to this man who was wise enough to choose wisdom when he could have chosen anything?
He made the unwise conclusion that he was so wise that he didn't need to listen to anyone else. In short, he became proud.
His pride and his arrogance brought him down. 
It was foolish enough for him to stop listening to wise people but he compounded the foolishness by listening to unwise and ungodly people. He married pagan women and they got into his ear and started giving him terrible advice. Not only did he stop listening to unwise people, start listening to unwise people but he stopped listening to God! The Bible tells us he built shrines and altars to pagan gods.
Who saw that coming?
Here's the point. If the wisest man in the world can become a fool, so can you.
Learn from Solomon. Don't let his regrets become your regrets. 
Don't become too proud to listen to wise counsel.
Don't be so unwise as to listen to ungodly people.
Don't become so foolish as to stop listening to God.
You will regret it.