Men of the Bible Series - Solomon didn't realize that we are all under the influence of somebody.
1 Kings 11: 1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.
9 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. 11 So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary.
23 God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary.
Solomon was such a wise man and yet he missed an important piece of wisdom that parents try to teach their children, we are always concerned about the people our children hang-out with, we know better than Solomon did that if you hang with the wrong crowd they will establish influence over you in a negative way. Our friends have influence over the things that we see, hear and say.
Solomon neglected to listen to God's advice, he was warned that his close association with people that were not committed to his God were going to influence him for evil. Solomon allowed himself to be swayed by his wives and then Solomon's influence affected the nation as a whole and all of Israel suffered.
I will be wise and remember to be careful about who has influence on me, especially in the area of devotion to God because that is not an option.
Lord help me to be in the world but to not be influenced by the world. I want to be in your word each day so that I will be influenced for good works.
Solomon neglected to listen to God's advice, he was warned that his close association with people that were not committed to his God were going to influence him for evil. Solomon allowed himself to be swayed by his wives and then Solomon's influence affected the nation as a whole and all of Israel suffered.
I will be wise and remember to be careful about who has influence on me, especially in the area of devotion to God because that is not an option.
Lord help me to be in the world but to not be influenced by the world. I want to be in your word each day so that I will be influenced for good works.
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