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Bible Question: Will I stay in the right group when I grow up, so that I do not go to jail?
Bible Answer: There is one thing God wants from us. It is the love of our hearts God wants our hearts and for us to be holy. If we love God, we will respond to Him and obey Him (John 14:15). We should want to seek Him, to know Him and to please Him. If this is true, the steps we take along life's road will please Him. King Solomon was a man who started out that way.
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Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. (NASB) 1 Kings 11:1-4, 6 |
His heart was completely devoted to the Lord. God had appeared to him, but later in life Solomon turned away from God. Here is how God reacted to Solomon.
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Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice (NASB) 1 Kings 11:9 |
King Solomon's wives influenced his heart, and Solomon turned away from God. He did evil. Today many Christians start out with a strong love for God like a flame of fire. But after awhile that flame is turned down to a mere flicker because of embarassing remarks by people at school or at work. Sometimes it is people in the church who hurt us or lead us astray with bad advice. Unfortunately, we will never escape the influence of others. We should always go to the Word of God and see if their advice is correct. How we react will influence our spiritual lives with God.
Solomon was a victim to one of the great influences in life - the spouse. In this man's life, it was his wives. They were very beautiful women, and Solomon yielded to them. They were bad company. They came from different countries, and many of them worshipped different gods. He married women who did not believe in the true God. That was a great mistake. From this we learn another principle - very attractive people can draw us away from God. The physical appearance of a person is not a mark of goodness. Our eyes deceive us! The New Testament warns us to not be deceived and to be concerned about the morals of the person we spend time with,
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Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals. (NASB) 1 Cor. 15:33 |
In the book of Ecclesiastes, we are warned that we can do whatever we want to. It is then added that God will judge us someday for what we do. Solomon did what he wanted, and God eventually punished him (1 Kings 11:9-11). |
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