A Failure at Home

Do you consider yourself to be somewhat successful? God measures our success not only from the way we appear to others, but the way we live at home and follow His commandments in our houses. King Solomon, in all his wisdom, had some serious issues when it came to following God in his home. He was a great king, a leader among men, but failed when it came to leading his family.

Solomon is famous for having so many wives and concubines, according to 1 Kings 11:3 he had 700 wives of royal birth, and 300 concubines. 1 Kings 11:1-2 though shows us that Solomon was not following God's plan for the Israelites by choosing to marry the women that he did. In his later years, 1 Kings 11:4 says that his wives turned his heart after other gods. Solomon failed to keep the One True God the first priority in his home.

We see as we follow through 1 Kings 11:5-8 that he built "high places" for all his wives' gods. According to verse 5, he started following some of those gods himself. You can't force your family to become a Christian, and you can't force your family to get saved. There is no room for you in your home to pay homage to other gods, though. If you don't keep your resolve to follow God with your whole heart, and keep your resolve to lead your family in what's right, you will be led astray by those in your family who do not believe as you do.

1 Kings 11:9-13 reveals to us that since Solomon had turned from God and followed other gods, he would be punished, and would be unable to pass his kingdom to his son as kings normally do. This is why it is so important for us to follow 2 Corinthians 6:14, not getting ourselves tied to someone going the opposite direction. We don't get to choose all of our family, but those we do get to choose, we should carefully consider if they are following God, or if they're going to pull us off the path.

Introduction To Proverbs

The Daily Man will be doing a Friday series on Proverbs. Every Friday, we will examine a portion of the book, and see what wisdom we can glean from it.

Proverbs 1:1 starts the book off with the signature of the author, Solomon. Solomon was the wisest king to have ever lived. 1 Kings 3:5-14 give us a brief overview of where the wisdom of Solomon came from. His wisdom came from seeking the face of God. 1 Kings 10:24 says that people came from all around to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Proverbs 1:2-6 gives us an overview of all of the things we can gain from studying this single important book of the Bible. We can gain: wisdom, discipline, prudence, knowledge, discretion, guidance. It will help us: understand words of insight, do what is right, just, and fair, understand proverbs, parables, and the sayings and riddles of the wise. Can a greater and broader insight into so many things have ever been written?

The very beginning of this book tempts us with such learning that it's difficult not to continue reading, and if you want to you are certainly welcome to read ahead. We're going to be going step-by-step through the entire book, however long that may take, and there's no harm in being prepared for the next Friday's topic. It will be an exciting journey through some of the most revealing and relevant writings man has ever known.