PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY - MEDITATE DAY AND NIGHT.
May 14th, 2025THOSE WHO SET THEIR HEARTS TO SERVE THE LORD. (2 (Chron. 11:16)
After the divide of Israel into two, northern Israel, (ten tribes) and the southern part, Rehoboam decided to go to war with Israel but God stopped him. "But God said to Shemaiah, the man of God, “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not fight against your relatives, the Israelites. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!’” So they obeyed the message of the Lord and went home, as the Lord had commanded." (1ki.12.22-24.NLT). Rehoboam inherited his father's sin which was the fall-out of Solomon's idolatry - disobedience (1 kings 11:1-2)
Meanwhile, Jeroboam became king of Israel. His ascension to the throne was on a silver platter; Then he (prophet Ahijah) said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!" (1ki.11.31.NLT)
FEAR OVER FAITH. Jeroboam established a counterfeit religion when he presented the people with two golden calves to worship instead of going to Jerusalem to worship the true God. Because he feared: "When these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead.”
(1ki.12.27.NLT). What a baseless excuse!
As a result, his kingdom suffered a division through the religious lines. (1) Most people in the Northern kingdom accepted Baal worship with its immoral practice and (2), the majority of the godly remnant suffered greatly as they left their possessions and moved to the southern kingdom in order to worship the true and living God. "Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors." (2 Chron.11.16.NIV)
Do we act like Jeroboam? Do we allow doubt to crepe into our thoughts while holding the promise of God? Jeroboam did and he fell. But those who set their hearts to serve the Lord do not mind the cost. They follow Him even when they've lost everything.
THE WORD: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ."
(Phil.3.8.NIV)
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