Who Do People Say You Are?

Sermon Series: Reimagine

1 Kings 11 King Solomon the wisest man in the world. King Solomon the richest man in the world. King Solomon who the Lord loved & allowed to construct His Holy Dwelling Place on earth. (all this said in that deep movie voice for coming attractions!) We don't really think of King Solomon as the back slider. King Solomon as the king who mislead his people, caused them to sin with Idol Worship. King Solomon who disobeyed God's one request which caused his downfall. Yes, great King Solomon had a great downfall too. God asked one thing of Solomon in return for all that God was about to bestow upon on him. Do not marry women of foreign countries who worship Idol Gods. So what does Solomon do? He goes out and gets 700 wives and 300 concubines, and the great majority, were women from those foreign countries which God had specifically warned him about. They worshiped Idol Gods!!! Seriously Solomon!?! One thing God asked of you, to Worship Him and Him only. And God even warned Solomon, "these women will slowly persuade you to worship Idol Gods and follow their detestable ways." and they did!!! and not only did King Solomon participate in these detestable ways, the people of Israel followed his example. He was their leader!!! Did God punish King Solomon? Yes. He caused his enemies to overtake Israel and they took away most of the wealth and possessions King Solomon had accumulated. God is a jealous God. He chastised King Solomon for his Idol Worship. With everything God blessed Solomon with, especially the "Wisdom" to lead Israel, his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak. Be careful with your life. The lesson for me was, when we sin, we usually cause someone else to sin. That spoke to me profoundly. People all around us in our daily lives, are watching what we do and what we say. If they were to follow me, would it be the Jesus in me? I hope & pray so 🙏