Work It In . . . Work It Out

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Pete

In the first part of Philippians 2, Paul exhorts the believer to do nothing of selfish ambition but to esteem others better than him or herself. Paul holds up Christ as the great Servant of all and says that we are to let the mind that was in Him also be in us. Paul then takes us on a glorious trek through the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. Touring us through His descent to death, even death on a cross, and then His ascent to the highest place, given a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus ever knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Hallelujah!! Amen!!

And then Paul writes, “Therefore . . .” In light of the encouragement to have the mind of Christ . . . in view of the example of Christ who obeyed unto death and now reigns as Lord . . . Paul brings on the implication . . . answers the “so what?” question . . . pens a command to obey . . .

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . . .     (Philippians 2:12 ESV)

The idea of “working it out” is the idea of doing that from which something results . . . in my work world we might call it “producing a deliverable”. And note, it’s not just some generic salvation I’m to be working out, it’s MY OWN salvation . . . tailored for me . . . my own set of deliverables. I am to be working it out.

With fear and trembling, do something with the salvation that was purchased for you with the precious blood of Christ. Work it out. But what does “working it out” look like for me? Tell me to read my Bible . . . and I can check that off the list. Tell me to go to church and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together . . . and I can set my alarm clock. Tell me to tithe . . . and I know I’m obedient when I drop my offering in the bag. Tell me to be religious . . . and I can run with that for awhile. But just tell me to work out my salvation? . . . bit more of a head-scratcher.

And I know that this isn’t working to merit my salvation . . . for I have been saved by grace through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Rather, this is taking the salvation that has been freely given to me through faith in Christ and doing something with it. Just as Christ “worked out” His “mission” as the Lamb of God . . . I’m to work out my salvation as a child of God. But what, specifically, are we talking about? What is it? And how do I go about working it out?

Praise God that while I’m called to “work it out,” God has promised He would “work it in.”

. . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.    (Philippians 2:13 ESV)

Chew on that for a bit. Part of the salvation dynamic is that God has promised to actively work in me . . . so that I might work out my salvation for His delight and satisfaction.

That word “work” is energeo. He energizes . . . He infuses . . . He empowers. Through His Spirit-to-spirit connection He gives the desires and the determination that align with His purposes for me “delivering” on MY OWN salvation. And, beyond the desire, He empowers me to go and do it. So while I seek to obey and work out my salvation . . . and while I may produce some results and some deliverables . . . He gets all the credit . . . all the glory . . . ’cause while I’m working it out, it’s only because He’s first working it in.

And so mine is not to strive . . . but to abide. I don’t self-propel my way to being a “good Christian” . . . because, through the power of the finished work of Christ, I am already counted holy and righteous in Christ. Instead, because of who I am in Christ, I seek first the things of the kingdom . . . and I submit myself to the leading of His indwelling Spirit . . . and then respond to His “working in” by “working it out.”

How important is it to keep that Spirit-to-spirit connection clutter free and static free? Pretty!!! I need to keep listening for His voice as I read His word, spend time in His presence, and interact with His people. I need to remember that He wants to work it in . . . so that I can work it out.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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Wonder & Surrender

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Pete

It is His recorded testimony . . . His written witness. How familiar have we become with it? Not familiar as in, “I know it really, really well!” . . . but familiar as in the Bible has become so common to me that I find myself being so casual with it. God forbid that we should lose the Wonder of the Word and the Surrender of our Soul.

Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.   (Psalm 119:129 ESV)

I had a conversation with a young man this week who is seeking the things of God. With no real “background” to speak of, he has taken to exploring the claims of Christ and the implications of them from a number of sources. When I encouraged him to make reading the Bible a priority, he responded something to the effect, “Why? Isn’t it just another book written by other men?” Good question, my friend. But no . . . no it isn’t.

I shared with him that one of our foundational beliefs is that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are inspired . . . that they are “breathed out by God” (2Tim. 3:16) . . . that the Creator bore witness of Himself, and of truth governing all people, as “men spoke [and wrote] from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Peter 1:21).

Ok . . . just pause there. Should that not produce just a bit of wonder? The words slipped so easily from my lips . . . Christianity 101 type of stuff . . . but pause and noodle on that for just a bit . . . and let the awe begin . . . let the wonder flow.

God’s testimonies are wonderful . . . they are full of wonder. His witness . . . His revelation . . . they are extraordinary and marvelous! Shouldn’t it boggle our minds that God Almighty would so desire relationship with His rebellious creation that He would move throughout many centuries and through many authors to provide us with a record of man’s fall and God’s plan of redemption? And shouldn’t it stir our souls to respond? The songwriter thought so.

Obedience wasn’t just a matter of the will for the psalmist, it was sourced in his very soul. Not about a “check the box” approach to staying on God’s good side, but a awe-inspired response to the revelation of God’s great person and God’s good news.

I’m thinking that if I would pause and wonder more at His testimonies, keeping His word would be more of a “soul thing” than a “gut it out” thing. It would be less about outward actions and more of inward desire and passion for kingdom pursuits.

Lord, forgive me for my casual approaches to your Holy Word. Fill me anew with the wonder of Your testimonies and stir my soul to joyful surrender to Your ways.

By Your grace . . . for Your glory . . .

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That Which Is Not Seen

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Pete

In two of my readings this morning, someone was told to not be afraid. One was in the Old Testament, the other in the New. Separated by centuries and with very different circumstances at play, the bottom line was similar . . . God’s people were in legitimately fearful situations. And yet, in both cases, they are encouraged not to be afraid. And the fear-dispelling agent in both cases was that which is not seen.

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  (2Kings 6:15-17 ESV)

The odds were heavily in their enemies favor. The Syrian king had sent a “great army” to take Elisha prisoner. They had Elisha and his servant, and the entire city, surrounded. No way of escape. Time to hit the panic button? I’m thinkin’ . . .

But Elisha is aware of that which is not seen. And God, in answer to prayer and by His mighty grace, for a brief moment peels back the veil of the invisible world and the servant of Elisha sees a reality he had perhaps only heard about. He is reminded that more are those who are with him than those who are with the enemy. Kind of has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it?

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1John 4:4 ESV)

I was then reading in Philippians 1. Paul’s kind of in a dire situation himself. A prisoner of Rome and unsure of how things might play out before the Roman judicial system, it could be life . . . or, it could be death. Either way he desired courage so that Christ would be honored in his body (Php. 1:20). And where might such courage come from? That which is not seen.

For Paul to live was Christ, but to die was gain (1:21). Paul knew that “to depart” would result in being with Christ in His domain, “which is far better” (1:23). It was faith in that which was not seen that fueled the fire of grace-infused courage for Paul. And so, he would encourage those also called to suffer for Christ to not be afraid.

Only let your manner of life be worthyof the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. (Philippians 1:27-28 ESV)

Sometimes we just need to close our eyes, turn our faces toward the hills, and toward the heavens, and be reminded of that which is not seen. The armies that surround us . . . the Savior who awaits us.

And then stand firm . . . and strive side by side . . . assured of our salvation.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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A Little Girl

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Pete

A little girl . . . that’s how she’s described in my Bible . . . just a young girl . . . taken from her family . . . removed from her country . . . separated from the place where her God was worshiped . . . in servitude to the wife of a powerful man. Just a little servant girl . . . but ultimately serving a really big God!

The 2Kings 5 record of Elisha healing Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, of leprosy is one of those pretty familiar Old Testament stories. And most often . . . like maybe always . . . my focus is on Naaman the powerful warrior who humbles himself to not only go see a prophet in Israel as a last ditched attempt to cure his condition, but also submits himself to Elisha’s ridiculous treatment plan, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times.”

Or, my attention is on Elisha, the powerful man of God blessed with a “double portion” of the spirit and power of Elijah, his mentor. This Elisha, a conduit of God’s might and grace shown to a pagan enemy commander. Or, I keep reading, and Gehazi’s, servant of Elisha, catches my attention as his greed ends up getting him more than he ever anticipated.

Those are the main characters . . . Elisha, Naaman, Gehazi . . . they are the ones who catch my eye most often when I’m reading here. But this morning, it’s the little girl who emerges center stage.

Nondescript . . . no name . . . no stature . . . no worldly power . . . but what amazing influence.

Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” (2Kings 5:2-3 ESV)

A little girl . . . with a little exposure to the things of God . . . with a little faith . . . has a big, big impact at the highest levels within a foreign government. The commander of the army of the enemy becomes a believer in the God of Israel. So much so that he determines to worship Him and Him alone. The conqueror of nations is himself conquered by the God of the universe. And all begins with a little girl.

That Naaman humbled himself to go to a prophet in Israel and wash in the Jordan reveals his desperation. But that he would listen to the counsel of his wife’s little servant maid, shows only the power of God to move within the hearts of men. To orchestrate circumstance and exercise souls in order to reveal His glory. To bring sinners to Himself that they might be healed and become followers of the true King.

What an amazing little girl . . . what an amazing Almighty God! And, as his followers, we too can be that little girl, because He is always that Mighty God!

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV)

Like a little girl . . . with a little faith . . . believing in a big God. To Him be glory alone . . .

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The Power of Repentance

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Pete

I read it and I did a double take . . . and so, I read it again.  Unbelievable.  You wouldn’t have naturally thought it possible given the clear testimony of Scripture  . . . “there was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab.”  He was the worst of the worst.  So entangled in pagan worship . . . under the spell of his wicked wife . . . opposed to the things and ways of God.  And yet, he was shown mercy.  Just a reminder of the power of repentance.

In 1Kings 21, Elijah is sent to Ahab to pronounce God’s condemnation and judgment upon the wicked king.  The murder of Naboth and the extortion of his inheritance puts it over the top and God says, “Enough!” . . . “I will bring disaster upon you.  I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel” (1Kings 21:21).  Yes!  About time!  He’s gonna get what he deserves.  And then, the unbelievable part . . .

And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,  “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”    (1Kings 21:27-29 ESV)

 Really?  Ahab humbles himself before the LORD . . . and God relents?  This wicked-beyond-wicked king now decides to take Elijah seriously and repents . . . and God shows mercy?  Pretty much.  Such is the power of repentance.

And the power isn’t the power of Ahab’s humility . . . it’s not in depths of his sorrow . . . though apart from godly sorrow and sincere repentance there could be no forgiveness.  But the true power is in the reality that we can not out-sin God’s grace.  By God’s very nature, He responds to the broken in spirit and the contrite in heart . . . no matter what they’ve done.  And on what basis can a holy and just God show mercy to a repentant sinner?  On the basis of the finished work of the Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross.  God could show Ahab mercy based on what He knew His Son would do “in the fullness of time” as the Lamb of God come for the sins of the world.

That is the power of repentance . . . it is the power of the cross.  That is the amazing of amazing grace.  The wonder is not that God would show mercy to an Ahab . . . it’s that He can justly show limitless grace to any of us . . . for “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” of whom we are all “the foremost” (1Tim. 1:15).

Yeah, its unbelievable, God’s mercy to Ahab . . . just as unbelievable as the grace He has shown me.

To Him be all glory and praise.  O’ what a Savior!

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Beyond Perfection

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Pete

Nobody’s perfect. How often have we heard that? How often have we said that? But it’s true. In fact, when you think about it, the idea of perfection is highly overrated. When we do encounter perfection, I’d suggest it is more of a relative state than an absolute reality. And, in cases where perfection might be achieved, such as a perfect test score, it doesn’t indicate perfect knowledge but a limited perfect performance . . . in fact, imperfection is just around the corner with the next set of subject matter material. Those who are realistic, pursue perfection with an expectation of getting better, but not as a goal they think can be reached. Those who pursue perfection without such a grounded view, are destined for frustration and failure. Perfection has its limits . . . but not so the Word of God.

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad.    (Psalm 119:96 ESV)

This contrast grabbed me this morning as I was reading the songwriter’s love letter to the counsel of God. Imagine what you will as perfection, and you’ll know it has its boundaries . . . that it only goes so far. But pause and meditate, even if for a brief time, on the revealed Word of God, and its expanse is beyond comprehension. If perfection is a studio apartment, then the precepts of God are a roomy, multi-roomed sprawling mansion. If perfection is your backyard, then the God-breathed Scriptures are a vast field stretching in all directions as far as the eye can see.

Why spend a lot of time roaming about a studio apartment with a hide-a-bed when you can explore a luxurious estate with more rooms–all decorated throughout with jaw-dropping fine furniture and art–to encounter than you have time for? Why settle for your fenced in backyard, when there are unending trails to be explored in every direction you turn? Why settle for the pursuit of limited perfection when God’s Word, His exceedingly wide word, beckons to be explored?

It is in the exceedingly broad revelation of God that we find eternal life. It is there we find the mind of God. It is there we find an eternal perspective that puts our temporal problems in context. It’s there, in the Word of God uncontained by the horizons, that we find true perfection . . . Jesus, the Christ.

He is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (Matt. 5:17) . . . all the promises of God are “Yes!” and “Amen!” in Him (2Cor. 1:10). You explore the expanse of the Spirit-written Word of God and your hearts burn within you as the Promised One is revealed (Luke 24:32). Engage the living Word and it will, like a sword, penetrate to places you didn’t know need to be penetrated . . . laying bare that which we might think is best kept covered . . . and then apply the grace-infused balm of the gospel, bringing healing and redemption.

No limits to the reach and impact of the Word. No boundaries to what it will, by the illuminating agency of the Spirit, reveal, redeem, and renew.

I have seen a limit to all perfection . . . but the Word, both written and Living, is exceedingly wide . . . and His perfection gloriously revealed.

He is beyond perfection . . . amen?

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Turning Hearts Back

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Pete

Put me in a word association situation and give me “Mt. Carmel” and I don’t think I’d come back with “grace” as the first thing that pops into my head. You might get “Elijah” . . . or “awesome display of God’s power” . . . or “feeble non-gods of Baal” . . . or “the Lord, He is God!” . . . but you say, “Mt. Carmel,” and I’m thinking I’m NOT saying, “Grace” as the word I immediately associate with that great showdown on the hill. But as I’m reading again in 1Kings 18 this morning, that’s what it was all about . . . . God’s amazing grace . . . as He determined, in His sovereign lovingkindness, to take a wayward people and turn their hearts back.

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
(1Kings 18:36-38 ESV)

Elijah didn’t throw down the gauntlet just to get in Ahab’s face. He didn’t call out the prophets of Baal and tell them to meet him at high noon because of how important it was for God to prove Himself before dumb idols made of wood and metal by the hands of dumb men. But the “gunfight at the Carmel Corral” was staged because of a people of God who were “limping between two different opinions” (18:21a). They couldn’t make up their minds. God of heaven? . . . things of this world? The promises of God? . . . the pleasures of paganism? Two opinions with two diametrically opposed implications . . . “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him” (18:21b).

God’s people were sitting on the fence (MSG). They kind of wanted to keep the name of being God’s people . . . but they were entangled in the pursuit of the world’s pleasures. And so God stages a massive display of heaven’s power in order to reveal afresh to His people that He alone is LORD God. And in so doing, turn their hearts back toward Him.

And when these fence sitters, these limper-alongers, saw the fire fall from heaven and consume the water drenched offering, “they fell on their faces and said, ‘The LORD, He is God; the LORD He is God!'” (18:39). And their hearts, if but for a brief season, were turned back to the God of their redemption. Not because they knew they had a heart problem and knew they needed to address it . . . but because of the grace of God. Because the Good Shepherd who will leave the ninety-nine to rescue the one (Luke 15:4), is the same Great Shepherd who will leave the one in order to rescue the ninety-nine.

Though a day is coming when we all will stand before God in judgment, Christians at the bema seat of Christ (2Cor. 5:10, 1Cor. 3:10-15), unbelievers before the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15), today is not that day. Today is the day of the patient, merciful, gracious God who woos sinners to Himself, and lovingly seeks to turn back the hearts of wayward saints.

Our Mt. Carmel? The cross of Calvary. The hill where God’s once for all sacrifice for sin was offered . . . the hill where God’s enemies were defeated . . . the hill before which, when we take the bread and cup, and remember the battle, causes us to fall upon our faces and declare afresh, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

O’ to know, and be known, by a God who not only replaces hearts of stone with hearts of flesh, but a God who also contends for the health of that new heart. Not content to have that heart limp along between two different opinions, but wanting that heart wholly for Himself, and willing to “massage” the heart so that it might be turned fully toward Him.

Turning hearts back . . . that’s what our God does . . . by His grace . . . for His glory!

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A Beloved Child

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Pete

We had a baby last night. Well, we didn’t directly . . . my oldest daughter did. A little girl came into the world and it lit up the “text-o-sphere.” My daughter started a group text earlier this week when she first went into labor. It’s been a running conversation that exploded with joy when the phones sounded and the ipads rang out around 8:00 last night . . . “It’s a girl!” First pictures were being sent and received . . . immediately she was unanimously deemed “beautiful” . . . declared to be “perfect” . . . and everyone couldn’t wait to meet her. Only in the world a few minutes and she was already a beloved child.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.    (Ephesians 5:1 ESV)

Reading in Ephesians 5 this morning . . . starts off with one of my favorite verses . . . one of the most inspiring verses, for me, in all of Scripture . . . be imitators of God. Mimic the Father. Do like Him until, by His grace and through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, you become more like Him. But what hit me this morning, is how I usually ignore the second part of the verse . . . more focused on the command to obey then I am on the reminder of whose child I am.

I’m encouraged to “watch what God does, then do it” (MSG) not to try and audition for His family and hopefully be accepted, but because I am already His beloved child. It’s a response . . . not a requisite.

On that night I was born again . . . on that night I was translated from darkness into light . . . the news raced through heaven as there was great “joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). No need for a group text . . . as they were all gathered before the throne, the Lamb in the midst, and they shouted with joy, “It’s a another saint!” . . . “Beautiful” . . . “Perfect . . . just like the Son!” . . . “Can’t wait to meet him!”

How I, most often, rush over the last part of that verse without pausing in awe and wonder that, by His grace, I was born again into His family. My sin paid for . . . the wrath of God that was mine fully poured out on His beloved Son . . . reconciliation accomplished . . . and, wonder of wonders, adopted fully as one of his beloved children.

That little baby, who came into the world last night, did nothing to merit or earn her way into the family. But she now bears the name . . . she’s now considered “one of us” . . . a beloved child . . . and she’s not even 12 hours old yet. And, just like the miracle of birth, so too is the miracle of new birth. Brought into the kingdom . . . seated with Christ in the heavenlies . . . not of merit, but of mercy . . . not because of my goodness, but all because of His amazing grace. Part of the family . . . a beloved child.

Looking forward to seeing my daughter, her husband, and another one of “my girls.”

Looking forward to seeing my Father, His Son, as another one of His beloved children.

To Him be all glory and praise . . .

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The Wonder of Regeneration

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Pete

It would be almost comical if the situation weren’t so tragic. As it is, it’s almost unbelievable that someone could have had such an encounter of the divine kind as did Jeroboam, and yet be so dense as to the things of heaven. And so, in a round about way, I’m brought to amazement and worship as I consider afresh the wonder of regeneration.

Stepping back . . .

Solomon’s heart has been turned away from the Lord as he gives his affection to many women of foreign nations and, in so doing, gives his heart to their handmade non-gods. The LORD then, in His sovereign purposes, determines to judge Solomon’s unfaithfulness by dividing the kingdom of Israel after Solomon’s death. God reveals his intentions to a very capable man, Jeroboam. God speaks through one of His prophets to clearly reveal to Jeroboam that God is about to “tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes” (1Kings 11:31). He even let’s Jeroboam know the reason for such judgment, “because they have forsaken me” and worshiped other gods (11:33). Pretty amazing one-on-one encounter with the Creator.

Solomon dies . . . his son Rehoboam takes over the throne . . . civil unrest develops . . . the northern ten tribes secede from the nation . . . and Jeroboam becomes their king. All as the LORD had determined. But then things in the north go south really quickly. In order to cement his grip on the kingdom, Jeroboam feels he needs to create an alternative to the God of Israel’s deliverance and the place of His worship, lest the people, in going to Jerusalem to worship, reestablish an allegiance to the king of Judah (12:1-33). And so, after direct revelation from God . . . after suddenly rising to power, just as God had revealed to him . . . Jeroboam creates fake gods to worship. That is, Jeroboam does what God told him Solomon had been judged for. Huh?

But it gets crazier. Reading in chapter 14 this morning, when Jeroboam’s son gets really ill, Jeroboam tells his wife to go to the same prophet that had revealed to Jeroboam God’s plan for him. But, he says, “disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam” (14:2). How goofy is that? Sending your wife to hear the voice of God . . . but telling her to put on a disguise so that the Sovereign of the Universe doesn’t recognize who she is. Hello!?! Anybody home?

Here’s a guy who has not only experienced direct revelation from God, but had also experienced God’s moving just as foretold. And yet, he is dead to the things of God. Somehow thinking that two golden calves equals one Yahweh . . . somehow believing that if his wife puts on a little more makeup and a wig, God won’t guess who she is. Unbelievable. But there, but for the grace of God, go I.

And I’m reminded that revelation, unless it is accompanied by regeneration, cannot, in itself, turn a man’s face toward God. Doesn’t matter how much knowledge someone has about God, without a new heart, they can’t know God. Doesn’t matter how much they’ve experienced the moving of God, without becoming a new creation in Christ, their encounter with God is of no effect.

Praise God for the gospel. That by the finished work of Christ on the cross, I am, by faith, not only saved from the penalty of sin, but that, by the life giving work of the Spirit, I am also born again. That I have been given a new dimension of understanding, the mind of Christ, that I might know the God of my salvation. That, by the power which raised Christ from the dead, I too am raised in newness of life able to commune and, in some measure, comprehend the King of glory.

A new creation in Christ. Alive to the things of God. O the wonder of regeneration. By His grace . . . for His glory.

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A Heart Turned Away

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Pete

Solomon can be one of the most inspiring examples in Scripture and yet, one of the most tragic. A monument of grace . . . born to David, the man after God’s own heart . . . born through Bathsheba, the mistress of David’s adultery and murder. A young man placed on the throne who seeks from God not long life, nor riches, nor fame — but wisdom to lead well. I have known many who have made Solomon’s prayer for wisdom their own . . . more than once, his prayer for wisdom has been mine. But read of how he finished his race in 1 Kings 11, and here too he is an example . . . a bad example . . . a warning concerning the danger of a heart turned away.

You don’t have to be read too closely to know what led to Solomon’s spiritual downfall. It’s repeated four times in the first nine verses of 1Kings 11.

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.   (1Kings 11:4 ESV)

Solomon had a weakness for women . . . a bit of an understatement considering the king had 700 wives and 300 concubines (11:3). Beyond the number, and perhaps more importantly, most of them were “from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love.” (11:2). Solomon’s desire trumped God’s decree. His weakness won over God’s warning. As such, he ended up with a heart turned away.

Now, I’m pretty sure I’m not in any danger of accumulating 700 wives. But are there other things that might lead to a heart turned away?

That word, “turned away,” is kind of interesting. It’s actually the same word I encountered a few days ago in Psalm 119:36 where the songwriter asks God to “incline” his heart toward His Word. “To turn” is actually the least common translation of that 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 . . . but, it would seem, 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. At the end of the day, his heart was stretched too thin and his loyalty to the LORD waned. His heart was not wholly true to the LORD, literally it had no “Shalom.” His heart was not at peace with God . . . it had been spread out by other pursuits . . . 1,000 of them . . . and, as a result, it had turned away.

Solomon’s life is a sobering warning . . . to think of living as well as Solomon lived and then finishing as poorly as Solomon finished. And all for a “stretched-too-thin” heart. I don’t have to noodle too long to come up with a list of things that can distract me from my “first love” (Rev. 2:4). So many things can compete with my devotion to the One worthy of “first fruits” I have to give . . . worthy of my first energies . . . worthy of my first thoughts . . . worthy of my first allegiance. It may not be multiple wives, but how many other “mistresses” might exist in my life that can turn my heart away from the Lord? God warned Israel not to intermarry with the nations around them for it would certainly turn away their hearts . . . Paul put it a slightly different way, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2Tim. 2:4).

There are so many things to be entangled with in my world. Not all bad . . . in fact, very few, are “bad” when received with thanksgiving (1Tim. 4:4). But many, nonetheless, that can distract and displace. I need to constantly check my world of activities and pursuits and ask myself, “Are these things spreading my heart too thin? Are they turning it away? Are they eroding my loyalty to the things of God?” Good questions to ask, I think.

To be like Solomon . . . characterized by wisdom through the mind of Christ, by the power of the Spirit. To not be like Solomon . . . on guard against a heart turned away.

By His grace . . . for His glory.

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