December 11, 2024 1 Kings 9:1-9
December 11, 2024 1 Kings 9:1-9
9 As soon as Solomon had finished
building the house of the Lord and
the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second
time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And
the Lord said to him, “I
have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have
consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there
forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And
as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked,
with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have
commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then
I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David
your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But
if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my
commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other
gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel
from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have
consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will
become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And
this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be
astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to
this house?’ 9 Then they will say,
‘Because they abandoned the Lord their
God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other
gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster
on them.’”
In these verses we see the Lord appear to Solomon again
acknowledging how he took note of the consecration of the temple to Him and
would remain in the temple for a while. He said he would establish good in
Solomon’s kingdom forever if he’d remain faithful to God. Then He gave a harsh
warning that turning away from Him would result in Israel being cut off from
being blessed. God is basically saying you’ve started strong and now if you
truly understand my sovereignty, you’ll finish strong.
Are there challenges/issues in your life that have taken
your eyes off God and finishing the race with faith and trust? Remember to turn
your eyes/heart upon Jesus as the hymn says and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
Robin Adams
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