I came across a bit of a frightening statement this morning. One which seemed directed to those of us who have been on the pilgrim path for a few years now . . . to us who, by the grace of God, have been pretty consistent in pursuing the faith and seeking the kingdom. As the hair starts to grey and the miles behind us are becoming more than miles in front of us, I can understand a tendency to coast . . . to stop pedaling so hard, thinking that we deserve an easier ride because of our past diligence. But then I read of another “grey head” who perhaps was lulled into thinking the same thing and how his “coasting” ended up in a dead stop, and it gives me cause to pause and reflect. It’s a warning of grey-haired danger.

“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. . . So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done . . . And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” (1Kings 11:4, 6, 9 ESV)

It’s that phrase, “when Solomon was old” that arrested me. Solomon crashed and burned not at the beginning of the race but at the end. In fact, he started well . . . really well . . . as he asked nothing more from God than wisdom. Midway through the race he’s absolutely flying . . . world renown . . . bringing prosperity to Israel . . . and building a magnificent dwelling place for the glory of God. But when he was old . . . when he’d “been there, done that” . . . when, perhaps, he was getting a bit bored with it all . . . or maybe was getting a bit tired . . . or started figuring that after so many years of running hard it was time to coast . . . that, after so many years of putting out, he deserved to cater to himself . . . whatever it was, when he was old (aka grey-haired) he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord . . . he did not wholly follow the Lord . . . and, the Lord was angry with him. Ugh!

After a lifetime of running well, . . . when he was old . . . it was then that his heart “turned away.” That phrase, “turned away,” is kind of interesting. “To turn” is actually the least common translation of the original word — literally it means “to stretch out . . . to spread out” and then “to turn, incline, influence.” That’s what Solomon had, a stretched out heart. Spread too thin. The attractions and the distractions were many . . . the affections were multi-focused . . . and at the end of the day, his heart was turned away from the One he had once sought to serve and to please. A lifetime of accumulating experiences and stuff . . . a lifetime focused on making life easier . . . a lifetime of setting and achieving goals . . . had left him vulnerable to stretching his heart too thin and being led down a path he shouldn’t have gone.

What a warning! It’s a warning for those who have run well, to not grow slack, but to press forward for the goal before us. It’s a warning that, even for those who have decades of faithful service to the Lord behind them, we’re not home yet . . . the old man still simmers . . . the enemy will step up his attack . . . and the lies of the world, and the distractions of that which we’ve accumulated can all come together to knock us off course.

We can sit back and let others in the church serve, after all, it’s their turn. We can skim the Word rather than continue to seek to plumb its depths because we’ve read it and studied it so many times. We can claim more of our “free time” for ourselves because that’s what we are told we deserve when we “retire.” We assume the Spirit’s presence, becoming complacent concerning our relationship with the Lord . . . slowly drifting from an intimate fellowship and desire for the Lord towards a “I told you I loved you on the day I was saved and if anything changes I’ll let you know” approach. And it can all lead to a divided heart . . . inappropriate actions and behaviors . . . and an angry God. Ouch! And I wanna say, by the grace of God, “No way!”

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way . . .” (Philippians 3:13-15a ESV)