The Seduction of Sin — 1 Kings 11:1-13
The Word: “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord His God” (v.4).
The Breakdown: After faithfully completing all that work on the temple, Solomon blessed the assembly of Israel, saying, “Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments, as at this day” (1 Kings 8:61). When Solomon said this, he would have never guessed that his own heart would be turned away and not be wholly true to God. But that is exactly what happened, for Solomon loved many foreign women (v.1)—700 wives and 300 concubines to be exact!—even though he knew that God told Israel that their hearts would be turned away from Him if they entered into marriage with such women. The result was that Solomon did what was evil in God’s sight, which caused God to be angry with him and therefore decide to tear the kingdom from his son (except for one tribe) and raise up an adversary against him.
Activate: The clear message from Solomon’s actions is that sin causes your heart to not be wholly true to God because it turns your heart away from God to pursue after other false gods. Let Solomon’s example cause you to turn away from the sin in your life before it causes you to turn away from God; and let it remind you that sin has consequences.
A Thought: Is your heart wholly true to God, or is it turned after other false gods due to sin in your life? Turn from your sin before your sin turns you from God!
