Wise But Disobedient [Devotional]

Devotions ChopChop ^ | January 12, 2009 | Dave Miller (tenger)

[tenger]

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharoah's daughter - Moabites, Ammonnites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods"...and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God...So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. 1 Kings 11:1-6

In these few verses we see unnecessary tragedy. Solomon was said to be the wisest man alive. He was wealthy, articulate, and judged people wisely. In the end, though, he followed after other gods (as a consequence of having 700 wives and 300 concubines - v3).

If you've been following these devotions for long, you'll realize that I talk much about wisdom, for we live in a world that needs a considerable amount of wisdom. Any wisdom that we can throw into the mix is welcome. Solomon wrote plenty of wise material for us to mull over.

But it's apparent from this text that God wants obedience. The foreign women with their foreign gods had led Solomon astray. The favor of God had clearly left Solomon, to the point that god said that Solomon "did evil in the eyes of the Lord." What an indictment!

I guess our takeaway from this is that wisdom is good, doing things that build up the kingdom of God is good, but ultimately God desires obedience. God may be revealing something to you right now that you are resisting for any number of reasons. Sometimes full surrender is the only option left on the table for us. More often than not, it's the best option too.

[Blind Eye Jones]

You're saying it is wise to give full obedience.