I was reading about King Solomon this morning. What an amazing time it was for the nation of Israel. They had just finished the extraordinary time of King David, the anointed one of God. Solomon was his son that was given the throne of his father. The Lord granted him amazing wisdom. The section I was reading was from 1 Kings 10 when the Queen of Sheba came to see and hear if King Solomon was truly as wise as she had heard. She found out he was. Then it talked about the wealth of Solomon. The Lord was truly blessing Israel and their king.
Then came the part that showed the clay feet of such a great king. King Solomon married various women from all sorts of nations. This was against the command of that said, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you..." (1 Kings 11:2) Why was this command given? Was it to keep the people exclusive? Was it to say that others were not as good of people as those of Israel? No, there was a deeper reason for this. It goes on, "...for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." (1 Kings 11:2b) It was because they worshiped false gods, terrible gods and if the Israelites married them, they would be tempted to go after those gods. This is because of the 1st commandment "You shall have no other gods." Period. No other gods. Worship the Lord your God with all your heart, life, mind and soul.
But that won't happen. There is no way that Solomon would turn away from worshiping God, would he? "So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done." (1 Kings 11:6) Again, "And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods." (1 Kings 11:8) Yes, Solomon turned away from God. He worshiped false gods. He gave up that life in God for the life of the false gods.
My point? That it is so easy to turn from worshiping the Lord to worshiping the false gods of this age. Yes, it can happen when you join your life to an unbeliever. It can happen when you let your days be surrounded by those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Won't happen to you? Why won't it? If you are surrounded by people who are not following the Lord in their life, why would you think that you won't start to leaving the Lord in your life? Solomon, the wisest man on earth, had this happen to him.
How can you stand firm? First, you need to be in the Word regularly. You need to study it. You need to read it. You need be involved in Bible study. You need to attend worship regularly so you can hear the Word of God. That Word of God needs to be what feeds your soul daily.
Second, you need the strength that the Sacraments give to you. Living daily in your Baptism is important. Receiving the body and blood of Christ in, with and under the bread and wine is also important.
Too often folks think that they do not need to attend worship because they can remain a Christian without attending worship. Really? If you are not being fed from Word and Sacrament, what are you being fed? The ways of the world? How will that help you to remain a Christian? While the world does it's best to tear down Christianity, why would you think you could listen to that and still be built up in your faith?
Yes, you do need to attend worship in a Christian church that teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation. You also need to receive the Lord's Supper regularly and frequently. You also need to begin each day in your Baptism and remain in that Baptism throughout the day.
May the Lord guide you with the Holy Spirit to remain in Christ each day.
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