June 5 - 1 Kings 11:38

If you do whatever I command you

and walk in my ways and

do what is right in my eyes

by keeping my statutes and commands,

as David my servant did,

I will be with you.

I will build you a dynasty

as enduring as the one

I built for David

and will give Israel to you.

1 Kings 11:38

The title at the beginning of chapter 11 in my Bible is “Solomon’s Errors.” And by far the worst error – especially for a man who began his reign as the wisest person in history – was marrying foreign wives and allowing them to bring their foreign religions into the palace, capital, and all the land.

Judgment was the consequence. God – through the prophet Ahijah – declared that he would rip ten-twelfths of the kingdom from Solomon and give it to Jeroboam.

Talk about a gift! Jeroboam won the lottery. The only problem is that like most lottery winners, Jeroboam wound up bankrupt. (More morally bankrupt than financially bankrupt, but Jeroboam wound up corrupted and dead.)

God had one condition -- though he stated it three ways. After telling Jeroboam that he would be king (v 37), he said, “

1a.       If you do whatever I command you and …

1b.       If you walk in my ways and …

1c        If you do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands …

Then   I will be with you and will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.

In other words: If you follow me, I’ll bless you.

But since our focus is on prayer and discernment, let me state that another way: If you follow God, you’ll be in the place to hear him. If you stray from God, it’s like his voice will be a long way away.

Does that make sense?

God wants to make something as glorious in your life as he was wanting to make in Jeroboam’s life. If we follow, he will bless us because we can hear.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who doesn’t want

to win a powerball lottery –

with God, I’m rich enough already!