Solomon's SecretsSample

ABOUT GOD—A ONE-TRACK MIND

Unfortunately, even the wisest among us are still human and bound to mess something up along the way. It was no different for King Solomon.

Even though King Solomon wrote countless proverbs on staying focused on God (Proverbs 16:3; 3:5), he became sidetracked by his love for women. And true to his own teaching, his many foreign wives “turned his heart away from the Lord” (1 Kings 11:3, NLT). He started worshiping various other gods and doing all kinds of evil (v.5-6).

I wonder if Solomon’s earlier wise words haunted him when his peaceful kingdom started falling apart. “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23, NLT). And in this case, the course of Solomon’s life meant depriving his children of a royal inheritance (1 Kings 11:11-13). And his idyllic reign of peace was soon replaced by attacks from enemies on all sides (v.14-25).

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He often warned people against the danger of losing their focus on God. “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life” (Luke 14:26, NLT). The moment when we allow our hearts to be corrupted by anything else, we are in danger of losing everything for all eternity.

Is there anything in your life that is causing you to lose your focus on God at the moment? What can you do to guard your heart against distractions?

Let us ask God to help us as we examine our hearts for any signs that we might be losing our focus on Him. And let us commit ourselves once again to the source of all wisdom.

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment” (Proverbs 9:10, NLT).