May 2nd, 2023
Of all of the instructions God has given, Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “love God with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind” (Mark 12:30). Loving God with all our heart leaves no room for any other passions. We can’t love God and the world. We can’t love God but keep some of our old habits. If we don’t give God all of our love, we risk being drawn away by errant desires. One of the greatest examples of this is King Solomon. Solomon deeply loved God and was blessed with wisdom above any other man, in addition to riches, victory, and longevity. However, the Bible tells us that his heart was not fully devoted to God. He was drawn away by foreign women to the point that he allowed the worship of their gods. 1 Kings 11:1 and 4 tells us what happened:
“King Solomon loved many foreign women… and his wives turned away his heart. 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.”
Solomon didn’t wake up one day and choose idolatry. The Bible tells us he did love God (1 Kings 3:3), but he had compromise in his life. He loved God and 1,000 foreign women. His heart was led astray and his story ends sadly. However, thousands of years later, God would raise up another King from the lineage of David that would be pure, consecrated, and wholly devoted to the commandments of His Father!
It's easy to judge Solomon for turning his heart away from God, but that’s because idolatry looks different in our Western culture. Solomon’s idol worship was evident, but we are no better than he was if we say we love God but keep one foot in the world. 1 John 2:15-16 says,
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”
It’s possible to love the people in the world without loving the things of the world. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus, but Jesus didn’t love the things of the world. He consecrated Himself to fulfill the will of His Father and His blood sets us apart, as well! James 1:27 says,
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Pure religion is rooted in genuine love for God and love makes it easy to remain unstained from the world. The problem wasn’t that Solomon didn’t have enough rules to keep him on the straight and narrow, but that he had unholy love in his heart. We can’t worship God purely if we don’t keep his commandments. Worship is not just singing songs on Sunday; It’s wholehearted devotion and obedience to God every day of the week.
As we walk with God, He will consecrate us to Himself, and it will be evident in every area of our lives. There are a few questions I want to share with you that God laid on my heart this week that will help reveal to us where our devotion is!
First of all, what do you fear? Fear is a form of worship because you exalt what you fear! The Bible tells us that the healthy, respectful fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Fear of God will actually set us free from every other fear. When you understand that He is the most awesome, powerful being in the universe and He loves you, there is nothing left to be afraid of. I want to share some important things the Bible tells us about fear and I’d recommend taking the time to read all of these Scriptures:
Secondly, I want to ask, what do you seek? You will pursue what you worship. Here are some things the Bible tells us about what we should seek:
Next, I want to ask, what do you think about? The Bible tells us to set our minds on Him (Colossians 3:1-3). The power of what we think about cannot be overstated! If we are anxious, it demonstrates that we haven’t placed our trust fully in Him (Philippians 4:4-9). Our thoughts will show the focus of our worship. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says,
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
It’s our duty to keep our minds focused on God and His word. There are so many Scriptures about this, but here a few I’d recommend studying: Proverbs 23:7, Ephesians 4:23, 2 Corinthians 4:4-5, Romans 8:5-7, and Romans 12:2.
Lastly, I want to ask you, what do you say? The Bible tells us that “out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak” (Matthew 12:34). The way that we speak will reflect our worship. We can’t allow ourselves to speak contrary to the Word of God because “death and life are in the power of our tongues” (Proverbs 18:21). Here are a few more Scriptures about the power of your words: James 1:26, James 3:8-9, Matthew 12:37, Proverbs 13:3, Ephesians 4:29, Psalm 19:14, Colossians 4:6, Matthew 15:10-20, Matthew 15, 35-37, and Luke 6:43-35.
The greatest commandment we have is to love God wholly. The greatest joy we have is to serve Him with no “ifs”, “ands,” or “buts.” King Solomon allowed unholy love to draw him away from pure worship, but we stand in the power of a King that did no such thing. We stand sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and nothing can draw us away when our hearts are fixed on Him. This week, as you ask yourself what you fear; what you seek; what you think; and what you say; don’t allow yourself to feel condemned. Let His Word consecrate your heart to be more like Jesus. Cast down every thought, every fear, and every pursuit, that would keep you from worshipping Him. True worship is loving Him only and presenting yourself as a living sacrifice— devoted, pure, and unstained the world (Romans 12:1). We are all being transformed from glory to glory, to be more like Jesus, in the love of our Father, and there is absolutely nothing better in the world!
“King Solomon loved many foreign women… and his wives turned away his heart. 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.”
Solomon didn’t wake up one day and choose idolatry. The Bible tells us he did love God (1 Kings 3:3), but he had compromise in his life. He loved God and 1,000 foreign women. His heart was led astray and his story ends sadly. However, thousands of years later, God would raise up another King from the lineage of David that would be pure, consecrated, and wholly devoted to the commandments of His Father!
It's easy to judge Solomon for turning his heart away from God, but that’s because idolatry looks different in our Western culture. Solomon’s idol worship was evident, but we are no better than he was if we say we love God but keep one foot in the world. 1 John 2:15-16 says,
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”
It’s possible to love the people in the world without loving the things of the world. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus, but Jesus didn’t love the things of the world. He consecrated Himself to fulfill the will of His Father and His blood sets us apart, as well! James 1:27 says,
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Pure religion is rooted in genuine love for God and love makes it easy to remain unstained from the world. The problem wasn’t that Solomon didn’t have enough rules to keep him on the straight and narrow, but that he had unholy love in his heart. We can’t worship God purely if we don’t keep his commandments. Worship is not just singing songs on Sunday; It’s wholehearted devotion and obedience to God every day of the week.
As we walk with God, He will consecrate us to Himself, and it will be evident in every area of our lives. There are a few questions I want to share with you that God laid on my heart this week that will help reveal to us where our devotion is!
First of all, what do you fear? Fear is a form of worship because you exalt what you fear! The Bible tells us that the healthy, respectful fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Fear of God will actually set us free from every other fear. When you understand that He is the most awesome, powerful being in the universe and He loves you, there is nothing left to be afraid of. I want to share some important things the Bible tells us about fear and I’d recommend taking the time to read all of these Scriptures:
- Fear God, not men. (Proverbs 29:25 and Luke 12:4-7)
- Don’t fear death. (Hebrews 12:14-17, Revelation 12:11, and 1 Corinthians 15:55-56)
- Don’t fear the devil or darkness. Jesus overcame every enemy we could face and when we are in Him, we’ve overcome them too! (Colossians 2:6-15, 1 John 3:9, John 10:10, and 1 Samuel 5)
Secondly, I want to ask, what do you seek? You will pursue what you worship. Here are some things the Bible tells us about what we should seek:
- Don’t seek the glory or praise of men. (1 Thessalonians 2:6, Colossians 3:1, Galatians 1:10, and Romans 2:6-9)
- Don’t seek after riches or provision because He already knows what we need. (Matthew 6 and Luke 12:29-31)
- If you seek Him, you’ll find Him and everything else you could have spent your life pursuing. (1 Chronicles 16:11, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Hebrews 11:6, Jeremiah 29:13, Psalm 105:4, and Matthew 6:33)
Next, I want to ask, what do you think about? The Bible tells us to set our minds on Him (Colossians 3:1-3). The power of what we think about cannot be overstated! If we are anxious, it demonstrates that we haven’t placed our trust fully in Him (Philippians 4:4-9). Our thoughts will show the focus of our worship. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says,
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
It’s our duty to keep our minds focused on God and His word. There are so many Scriptures about this, but here a few I’d recommend studying: Proverbs 23:7, Ephesians 4:23, 2 Corinthians 4:4-5, Romans 8:5-7, and Romans 12:2.
Lastly, I want to ask you, what do you say? The Bible tells us that “out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak” (Matthew 12:34). The way that we speak will reflect our worship. We can’t allow ourselves to speak contrary to the Word of God because “death and life are in the power of our tongues” (Proverbs 18:21). Here are a few more Scriptures about the power of your words: James 1:26, James 3:8-9, Matthew 12:37, Proverbs 13:3, Ephesians 4:29, Psalm 19:14, Colossians 4:6, Matthew 15:10-20, Matthew 15, 35-37, and Luke 6:43-35.
The greatest commandment we have is to love God wholly. The greatest joy we have is to serve Him with no “ifs”, “ands,” or “buts.” King Solomon allowed unholy love to draw him away from pure worship, but we stand in the power of a King that did no such thing. We stand sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and nothing can draw us away when our hearts are fixed on Him. This week, as you ask yourself what you fear; what you seek; what you think; and what you say; don’t allow yourself to feel condemned. Let His Word consecrate your heart to be more like Jesus. Cast down every thought, every fear, and every pursuit, that would keep you from worshipping Him. True worship is loving Him only and presenting yourself as a living sacrifice— devoted, pure, and unstained the world (Romans 12:1). We are all being transformed from glory to glory, to be more like Jesus, in the love of our Father, and there is absolutely nothing better in the world!
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