such as this green lichen, waiting to be discovered by a hiker or amateur photographer.
Our hearts contain less-than-beautiful spiritual content that is waiting to be revealed by the Word of God!
After "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon", I Kings 3:1, tells us that Solomon made a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. (Solomon's life would reveal that he knew, but he did not apply the wisdom of God to himself.) Meanwhile, the people of Israel were making sacrifices at the high places (evidently using the excuse that there was no house for the worship of the Lord--do we wait to worship God until everything is perfect for us, and commit idolatry while we wait?). Verse 3 says, "And Solomon loved the Lord. . . except". Solomon's relationship with God was destined to suffer due to the political marriages he made and the resulting influence that his wives' idolatry had on him.
Solomon asked for "an understanding heart" and "discernment between good and evil". God granted his request and added riches and honor as an extra blessing. However, God included a clause in His promise to Solomon, saying, "if you walk in my ways. . .as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days" (according to some scholars, Solomon may have been only 60 years old when he died--he ruled Israel for 40 years and was possibly around 20 years old when he became king.) "Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men. . .and his fame was in all the surrounding nations".
How would I complete this sentence, "I love the Lord, except __________"? What I put in this blank may give me a clue to my greatest weakness, and alert me to the source of my greatest spiritual battle during my lifetime. Psalm 68:19-20, may shed some light on the sentence with the blank---what if I look at it in this fashion: "I love the Lord (who daily loads me with benefits, the God of my salvation, the Lord who has given me escapes from death) . . . except __________? How can I disregard the God who blesses me in this way by cordoning off a place in my heart for personal sin that I refuse to let go?
It is difficult to understand what happened to the man behind the verse in Proverbs 17:10. "Rebuke is more effective for a wise man. . ". Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, may have written this verse and yet he allowed God's rebuke to be ineffective where he was concerned. John 10:1-21---There are times that Solomon did not (and we do not) follow God. Do we dare let Jesus own us? Do we dare follow Him without excuse? In today's reading in John, Jesus tells us He is the good shepherd that gave His life for the sheep. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. They hear His voice, understanding that He is the only "door" to the Father. He will never keep anything back from them that is beneficial for them. Do we know enough about Him to trust Him even with the "except ________"? If we are unwilling to relinquish an area of personal sin, maybe we need to come to know Him better. God appeared to Solomon twice, yet at points in his life he obviously refused to allow the light of truth to penetrate his heart. The flesh is determined to win and Satan is seeking someone he can devour. This lesson of Solomon's outcome should serve to alert us to the power of sin--it is not something to play around with or "collect"---even as Solomon flirted with idolatry as he collected women, resulting in disloyalty to God.
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