1 Kings 11: It's All or Nothing

"For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father."

1 Kings 11:4

Have you ever given God a portion of your heart? We know that God demands of us all of our lives, all of our desires, and all of our obedience. We know that this isn't because he's power-hungry or mean; it's because he deserves it and because he knows that to serve him with everything is best for us as well. Yet, how often do we fail to obey the Lord fully? How often do we give God half of our obedience and save the other half for ourselves? Well, Solomon tried to do that his whole life, but it didn't work out that well for him.

In 1 Kings 11, we find ourselves reading the downfall of Solomon. Up to this point, Solomon has had a pretty good run. He was faithful to the Lord in asking for wisdom rather than riches, yet God gave him both. Furthermore, he was God's chosen one to construct the great temple of the Lord. From these two facts alone, Solomon may have had everyone before him beat in the category of spirituality! Yet, this was far from the truth. Although he certainly had his successes, Solomon, as we find here, was ultimately a failure. Why? Well, scripture tells us it had something to do with his foreign wives. Firstly, Solomon sinned against the LORD by having more than one wife. Yet not only were his wives multiple, they were also pagan. There is a reason why God commands Christians to marry Christians--it is so they are not turned away from the Lord, as Solomon was. Because of the influence of his wives, Solomon did worship the LORD, yet he also worshiped foreign gods. His heart was only partially true to the LORD, not "wholly true" to the LORD. He wasn't ALL IN.

Thus, the Lord tore the kingdom from his hand. You can read the account for yourself in 1 Kings 11, but in short, the Lord ripped Israel from Solomon's hand and literally gave 5/6ths of it to his servant. Although there was a small remnant that remained in Solomon's line, the great glory of the kingdom was lost, all because Solomon failed to remain wholly true to the Lord.

Yet lest we make fun of Solomon, let us allow this story to convict our own hearts. How many times have we given God only part of our obedience, yet thought we've gotten away with it? Now, let me give us a few examples: How many times have you given God your Sunday, yet not your Monday-Sunday? How many times have you given God your Bible study time, yet disobeyed him the rest of the day? Furthermore, how many times have you given God a half-hearted prayer yet forsaken to read his Word to you? Surely many more examples could be given, but let us face it: often, we are tempted to convert to half-hearted Christianity. Yet let us realize that half-hearted Christianity is no Christianity at all. Those who have given half their heart to Christ are those who have given the entirety of their soul to hell.

So, let us not be lukewarm. In the words of John MacArthur, "It is a futile attempt to hold on to sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of salvation is it if we are left in bondage to sin?" To hold onto sin with one hand and Christ in the other is to fully grasp neither. Yet let us observe Christ: in the deepest and darkest moment of his own life when he was on the cross, he remained faithful to God. You see? In his highest point, Solomon rejected the LORD, yet in his lowest point in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ remained faithful to God. Let Christ be our example today. Amen.