|
But if ye shall at all
turn from
following me, ye or your children,
and will not keep my commandments, and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: then I will cut off Israel... 1Kings9:6-7a In my walk with the Lord I have found that at times God will help me make the right choice and good decisions, and at other times, I am left completely at my own discretion. Solomon, as we know, was given wisdom and understanding as well as riches and fame. Having wisdom and understanding meant that God was imparting to him revelation in the decisions he had to make. Without spiritual insight there is no wisdom. Yet even though Solomon was given these gifts he did not make the right choice with respect to worshiping foreign gods and marrying women of different faiths and not only did he suffer for it, but Israel as well. Solomon, though given gifts of the Spirit, still had choices to make. God, knowing where the temptation was going to come, in his mercy, warned Solomon what to avoid and told him the consequences of not heeding the warning. Solomon, as we know, failed miserably, and Israel suffered. As born again, spirit-filled Christians we are to share in the sufferings of Christ, share in the temptations of Christ, and so share in the resurrection. Though given gifts of the Spirit, we are not therefore exempt from temptation. Both Peter and Paul warn us about the temptations of the flesh and the need to mortify or crucify the flesh. We learn clearly from Solomon, even given wisdom and understanding, there are some choices left to our own discretion, which if we heed the word of God, we will avoid in order to be pleasing to the Lord. Though Solomon was given gifts and two visitations by the Lord, he yielded to the flesh and not the word of the Lord. He failed exactly where God had told him the temptation would come. That is a sobering thought. Many spirit filled, anointed ministers fail in their battle with the temptations of the flesh even though they can operate in the Spirit and Jesus will say to them, “I don't know you.” You can pray in tongues, have gifts of healing, prophesy, and give wonderful sermons and still not have worked out your salvation. God, through Peter and Paul, has warned us where the temptation lies. It lies in our flesh and until the flesh is dead, we are subject to temptation and failure which is a part of fallen man. As I said in the beginning, some choices God helps us to make and others, he wants us to make for ourselves. If we choose to honor God and his word, no matter how difficult the choice is, we will be victorious in the end and many will be blessed. If we choose to honor the flesh, not only do we suffer loss, but the church as well. Learn from Solomon! amen |