God chose Solomon to be the next Israel's king after his father, King David, died. Before King David died, he instructed Solomon these words, "My son, I will soon die, as everyone must. But I want you to be strong and brave. Do what the LORD your God commands and follow his teachings. Obey everything written in the Law of Moses. Then you will be a success, no matter what you do or where you go." (1 Kings 2:2-3). King David was advising his son to live through the ways of God so that God would bless his life. Solomon followed his father's advice, and God gave him wisdom and wealth. He built the temple of God and expanded Israel's territory beyond the borders that his father had. However, through all the success and accolades he was receiving, his heart turned away from God because he loved many foreign women who worshiped other gods. It was very tragic because Solomon started compromising his faith in God. As a result, God's peace departed from him, and his life and the nation of Israel started to decline. They eventually went through the civil war and then were conquered by other nations.
Because Solomon decided to not live through the ways of God anymore, he lost everything. The problem was not the foreign women, but the problem was that Solomon decided to live for himself and not for God. Solomon thought that he could live for himself and for God at the same time. However, he was wrong. He needed God for His blessing and protection, but He wanted the pleasures of this world. He tried to keep both but ended up losing everything. In the same manner, we cannot live for ourselves and for God. We have to choose which one we want to live our lives for.
Living for God is a choice that we need to make daily. It is not a one-time decision that we make, but it is a day-by-day or minute-by-minute decision. In the beginning, Solomon chose to live for God, then later in his life, he chose to live for himself. As we go about our daily routine today, we need to make a firm decision to live for God. If we want God to bless our lives, then we need to choose to live for Him daily.
Ask yourself these questions: Am I choosing to live for God and for myself? Am I trying to live for God and for myself at the same time? What happened to Solomon when he tried to live for both? How does God want me to live my life?
Write down all the worries that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I acknowledge that your ways are better than my ways. Your ways lead to life, but the ways of this world lead to death. I want to live my life for you, so please help me to choose your ways every moment of my life. Please help me now with (mention your prayer requests). In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.