Good luck till the end
1 Kings (27) Do well until the end (1 Kings 11:1-8)
< Be loyal no matter what you own >
Some people are overly obsessed with material things and success. But material and success are not necessarily good. Money can be a great servant, but it can also be a master of souls that bring great tests.
According to the results of a study on <Possibility of Adultery by Income> published in Forbes magazine in 1995, the higher the income, the higher the rate of infidelity. There is a 33% chance that your love for your spouse will change, 33% of those earning between $120,000 and $20,000, 45% of income between $230,000, 55% of those earning between $340,000, and 4 -66% of those with incomes between $50,000 and 70% of those with incomes of $60,000 or more. Those statistics show that if wealth and fame are not well controlled, they can be the number one corrupting factor in the soul.
The most beautiful thing for a man is his unwavering loyalty, regardless of his circumstances and possessions. The most beautiful faith is a faith that begins with faith and ends with faith. The saddest thing, on the other hand, is that it starts well and ends badly. Solomon started well. He was a faithful believer when he offered a thousand burnt offerings before God. So, although God has given him wealth and fame, he gradually fails to use it well and enters the path of corruption. Seeing the fall of a wise man like Solomon reminded us of the fatality of sin.
<Good luck to the end>
The problem was that Solomon had pursued many foreign women (verse 1). God told the Israelites not to marry a foreigner. Because there is a risk of making your spouse follow a foreign god. But Solomon did not listen to the word of God and had 700 concubines and 300 concubines, who made King Solomon follow other gods. Then Solomon allowed the women to bring their idols into the house. Eventually, King Solomon, who built the greatest temple in history, bowed down to a foreign god.
It even took the treasury to build a high place on the mountain in front of Jerusalem for the detestable Chemoth of Moab and the detestable Moloch of the Ammonites (verses 7-8) for the concubines of the Gentiles. Chemosh of Moab and Moloch of Ammon were both gods of fire. The children of Moab and Ammon killed and burned their first son as a sacrifice to their god. It was believed that only then would the entire family be blessed. At that time, the father grabbed the eldest son, walked the head of an ox to a statue, and placed the eldest son in the hands of the statue, which was stretched out to receive the sacrifice, and then burned in an iron-cast furnace.
How cruel and barbaric are you? Solomon tolerated such an ordinance. Why did such an unimaginable thing happen? It was because his judgment was clouded by pursuing a foreign woman. Of course, he did not completely deny God. Solomon's problem was that he moderately compromised, saying, "How about serving God while serving other gods?" Compromise usually results in corruption.
Why did Solomon fall as he grew older? This is because they focused on themselves rather than on the vision of the kingdom of God. Most sins stem from a self-centered attitude. In that sense, keep training well in giving to others. Mission is the way to save and bless others, but it is also the way to save and be blessed.
In order not to fall, you must be good at 'throwing away bad things', but you also need to be good at 'filling in good things'. In addition, we should cast aside worldly lusts, but have holy lusts. In such a negative sense, we must abandon the ‘moderate compromise attitude’, but in an active sense, ‘complete devotion to the holy work’ is required. The best weapon to change the world is the weapon of 'complete devotion', and the best medicine to cure the disease is the medicine of 'complete devotion'. The medicine is not easy to swallow, but if you swallow it well, the work of recovery and blessing will appear.
Solomon had a good start, but he did not fully dedicate himself to God, and later became a wise fool and fell terribly. Use that image as a teacher of contrast and pray always. "God! When you start well, do it well until the end! Grant me unchanging loyalty, wisdom, understanding, and the ability to overcome myself, so that through me, more of your resemblance to me can become a cornerstone that changes the world!”
Pursue material things, but pursue them thoroughly within the will and vision of God. Seek success, but be sure to use it with the goal of using it in a holy work. From now on, do your best not to deviate from that goal, do your best to empty yourself and train to participate in missions, so that you can succeed in God and use that success well to become a cornerstone of changing the world.