…for us to forget God. In taking a pause (selah) at 1 Kings 11, I am able to see God’s undying love for Israel, His chosen people, even as they and their leaders continue to sin against others and sin against God.

Yet God wants to keep a remnant seed going for the sake of His love for King David, and tells Solomon that though the kingdom will be taken from his son Rehoboam and given to a servant’s son Jereboam, God himself will preserve a tribe to keep the lineage of David safe from destruction. How sad! As many times as Saul disobeyed the Lord God, God appeared to Solomon (twice) but Solomon ended up worshipping idols after getting busy with 700 wives (uhhhh, hardly the marriage model God wants for us….). Suddenly, Solomon looks more like Saul than his father David, as he tries to kill Jereboam, the man God chooses to replace Solomon as King of Israel. Jereoboam escapes, but will he obey God and follow His commandments? Or will he let Israel down like Rehoboam and the other failed leaders?

And because it doesn’t take long for us humans to forget God, let us draw near to Jesus, through whose blood shed on the cross and the bodily resurrection we are able to ask for forgiveness for our sins, and be washed clean into a truly repentant, transformed being.

May the Lord continue to guide each imperfect person (meaning all of us) in true repentance as we seek the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have reconcilliation with God, as we daily repent of our sins and approach His throne humbly yet boldly. Amen.