Key Verse: 1 Kings 8:61 “Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.” I believe that all people value loyalty. We desire and expect loyalty from our spouses, our children, and even our friends. When someone betrays our trust we our hurt, angry and often push that person out of life. But what about our loyalty to God? In 1 Kings 8, Solomon has finished building the temple of the Lord and he is giving a speech to all those who are assembled there, and he exhorts them to remain loyal to the Lord. One’s loyalty to God can be measured by how well they obey his commandments. When Solomon said this, Israel as well as himself were very loyal to God. Solomon was following in the footsteps of his father David who loved God. However, in just a few short years, (1 Kings 11), we see that Solomon’s heart turns from the Lord and he begins to be disloyal to the Lord who had blessed Him. I believe that there were two primary factors that led Solomon’s heart to turn to others gods and not obey his law. The first was success. Solomon had been successful in every endeavor he had attempted. He had successfully built God’s temple, successfully been a ‘good’ king. His wealth and fame grew beyond measure. His life was characterized by success. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with success we must make sure that we do not allow our success in any field to lead us away from God. The devil often uses success, and wealth to lure our hearts away from loving God and seeking Him and instead we begin to begin to seek out ways to gain more success and keep the wealth we attained. The second thing that led Solomon away from the Lord was a desire for pleasure. Solomon loved women, not one woman. His desire for women and pleasure turned his heart from the Lord as he married many pagan women and adopted their gods. The same thing can happen in our life. We must never allow earthly pleasures, sinful or not, to lead us away from God. When one reads the book of Ecclesiastes it seems that Solomon near the end of life saw his folly and began to seek God once more. This should give each of us encouragement. If you know that you’ve been disloyal to God today is your chance to recommit your heart to God. It wasn’t too late for Solomon and I don’t believe its too late for you!
