The account of King Solomon, the Son of David, is an intriguing story of a man tremendously blessed by God, yet has his heart sucked away towards the idolatry gods of the surrounding nations. A man with such a promising start has such an unsuccessful ending. How does it happen? In 1 KINGS 11; we find the answer...his heart was led astray by conflicting passions.
Solomon, in all his wisdom, wealth, and blessings from God, did not keep his passions intact and let them wander until they eroded his commitment to the commandments of his God. What was his weakness...it was women. With wisdom, wealth, and prestige, Solomon could have anything he wanted. And he wanted wives, princesses, and concubines. Despite the fact that God had already offered him anything he desired, and had given him all things, Solomon felt he needed more. Despite the fact that God had clearly forbidden Israel from mingling with foreign wives, Solomon felt he needed more. The results were inevitable - his wives captured his heart, and in order to please them, he built alters to their idols.
The ordering of our passions is so important to our fidelity to Christ, it seems that the road to idolatry is familiar.
- Our hearts are enticed to love things that are not worthy of our affections
- Some worldly thing (material wealth, power, position, sex, fame, other people, a certain man or woman) captures the affections.
- Our love for these unworthy things rises higher than our love for Christ
- We either consciously or subconsciously begin to worship and serve this idol rather than God
- Sin, which has already bound the heart, consumes our lives