1 Kings 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
And all God’s people said, Amen! Yes Friends, cause that’s how we should all be living; walking in God’s statutes and obeying His dictates. Moses warned the Israelites about associating with the people they found in the promised land. ‘Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.’ (Deut.18:13) But they still got involved with the heathen there, and got in trouble with God. Then Solomon, on the day he dedicated the ark in the temple he built to honour God, similarly challenged the people. After giving thanks and praise to Jehovah, Sol blessed them with a loud voice, saying, ‘Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not faileth one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us or forsake us.’ (vs.56-57) Sol also asked God to help them be obedient, to remember his prayer and provide for them as He saw fit. ‘That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.’ (vs.60) ‘Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God…’ But sadly Friends, that momentous occasion, and the many others in Sol’s long, distinguished life were eventually overshadowed: For ‘it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.’ (1Kings 11:4) Oh People, it’s truly heart rending when a great man like Sol falls from grace, through failure to listen to his own advice. Bruh David was a rogue and a scoundrel in his own way, but despite all his wrongdoing, he never forgot his God. He knew exactly on which side his bread was buttered. Friends, so should we. It’s very easy to be led astray, so we’ve got to be very careful whom we associate with and listen to. We can’t always associate with believers, since the world’s filled with unbelievers, whom we’re expected to bring to Christ. That means we’ll find ourselves in their company quite a bit, if we’re doing Christ’s work. However, our heart must be perfect with the Lord; our faith so strong, that our associates will follow us, and not we them. Unlike poor Sol, who after being such a faithful champion of the Lord, ended up a pagan, doing evil in His sight. Unfortunately, after Sol, there was a succession of Kings in Judah and Israel who did evil in the sight of the Lord; Jeroboam, Rehoboam and his son Abijam. But Abijam’s son, ‘Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord..’ (1Kings 15:11) He removed all his father’s pagan stuff, except the high places; ‘nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.’ (1 Kings 15:14) And there are others, like Hezekiah, who made mistakes, but whose heart was right and the Lord healed him. (2 Kings 20:3) Yes Friends, it’s not easy, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can not only endure but conquer. Our hearts though, must be in tune with God’s desires, our intentions must be sincere, cause that’s what the Lord requires and looks for. So let’s try and perfect our heart with Him, and walk in obedience to His will, from this day onward. Much LOVE!…in God’s eyes…it’s always…the true state of our hearts…that matters most…
And all God’s people said, Amen! Yes Friends, cause that’s how we should all be living; walking in God’s statutes and obeying His dictates. Moses warned the Israelites about associating with the people they found in the promised land. ‘Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.’ (Deut.18:13) But they still got involved with the heathen there, and got in trouble with God. Then Solomon, on the day he dedicated the ark in the temple he built to honour God, similarly challenged the people. After giving thanks and praise to Jehovah, Sol blessed them with a loud voice, saying, ‘Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not faileth one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us or forsake us.’ (vs.56-57) Sol also asked God to help them be obedient, to remember his prayer and provide for them as He saw fit. ‘That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.’ (vs.60) ‘Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God…’ But sadly Friends, that momentous occasion, and the many others in Sol’s long, distinguished life were eventually overshadowed: For ‘it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.’ (1Kings 11:4) Oh People, it’s truly heart rending when a great man like Sol falls from grace, through failure to listen to his own advice. Bruh David was a rogue and a scoundrel in his own way, but despite all his wrongdoing, he never forgot his God. He knew exactly on which side his bread was buttered. Friends, so should we. It’s very easy to be led astray, so we’ve got to be very careful whom we associate with and listen to. We can’t always associate with believers, since the world’s filled with unbelievers, whom we’re expected to bring to Christ. That means we’ll find ourselves in their company quite a bit, if we’re doing Christ’s work. However, our heart must be perfect with the Lord; our faith so strong, that our associates will follow us, and not we them. Unlike poor Sol, who after being such a faithful champion of the Lord, ended up a pagan, doing evil in His sight. Unfortunately, after Sol, there was a succession of Kings in Judah and Israel who did evil in the sight of the Lord; Jeroboam, Rehoboam and his son Abijam. But Abijam’s son, ‘Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord..’ (1Kings 15:11) He removed all his father’s pagan stuff, except the high places; ‘nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.’ (1 Kings 15:14) And there are others, like Hezekiah, who made mistakes, but whose heart was right and the Lord healed him. (2 Kings 20:3) Yes Friends, it’s not easy, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can not only endure but conquer. Our hearts though, must be in tune with God’s desires, our intentions must be sincere, cause that’s what the Lord requires and looks for. So let’s try and perfect our heart with Him, and walk in obedience to His will, from this day onward. Much LOVE!…in God’s eyes…it’s always…the true state of our hearts…that matters most…
SCRIP-BITS 