“GOD ALWAYS FIRST”
“GOD ALWAYS FIRST”
“And when Solomon was old, his women inclined his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.”
(1 Kings 11: 4)
How can someone as wise as Solomon have strayed so far from the ways of the LORD? His wisdom had turned to pride? Would he, and not GOD, think that he was responsible for his wealth and blessings? During twenty of his forty years of reign, Solomon seemed to use his wisdom in a way pleasing to GOD. However, little mention is made of his prayer life.
Although Solomon offered sacrifices in the temple three times a year, there is no record of whether he had a vocation for prayer during these visits, which perhaps means they were a formality. Solomon filled his life with treasures, and that is where his heart ended, the Holy Scriptures affirm: “Thus did King Solomon exceed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.”
(1 Kings 10.23)
A promise that GOD had made. With all this wisdom, riches shouldn’t have gone to his head … But they did. JESUS said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Matthew 6.21)
Once Solomon’s heart was set on material wealth, it was easy for his foreign wives to turn him away from the GOD who had so richly blessed him. Any of us may be tempted to put different things above our relationship with GOD.
That is why we must ask him to show us if some possession or desire is interfering in our communion and relationship with him, and in case there is something that has taken us away from his teachings ask him for wisdom and strength to resist the temptation to turn our hearts away from him.
Dear LORD, I pray that my most precious treasure will always be in You and not in my possessions or in the distractions of this world. Help me never to create an idol. You are my priority and I put you above everything in my life. In the name of JESUS. Amen and Amen
