READING: 1 Kings 9-11
It’s painful to think about the repercussions of the fall of God’s people – whether the Old Testament nation or followers of Christ today. It is not that we have had no warning of these pains, though. When God responded to Solomon’s prayer about the Temple, He also reminded the king of the results of unfaithfulness: “Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. Though this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will scoff” (1 Kgs 9:7-8). The failure of the people would result in taunting from their enemies.
Moreover, the people who were called to be a kingdom of priests—the ones through whom the nations would know that the Lord is God (1 Kgs 8:60)—would be instead the focus of ridicule. How sad it is that, in a world already opposed to the Lord, we believers sometimes so fall into sin that we give the world reason to reject the church and the gospel!
And, how important it is that we walk with the Lord “with a heart of integrity and in what is right” (1 Kgs 9:4)!
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Does your life today give others reason to mock God and the church?
DAILY PRAYER: “Father, help me to keep Your statutes and ordinances today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Kings 12-13