Staying connected to the Lord means disconnecting from sin
God will not partner with darkness of any kind. God is light, the Father of Lights, and there is no shadow in Him whatsoever and that will never, ever change. (1 John 3:11 & James 1:17) If you are struggling with a sin issue, stop struggling and get free. Sure, it’ll be hard work on your behalf, but if you want more of God, darkness has no place in His presence. He will not content with nor tolerate it. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. Cut sin off now.
In 1 Kings 10:1 the Queen of Sheba had come to visit King Solomon because she had heard of his fame- and the Bible says that it “was connected to the name of the Lord.” Solomon was raised to love the Lord by his father David. When Solomon took over the throne, he asked God for one thing, which was granted to him: wisdom. God overwhelmed Solomon with such a measure of other-worldy wisdom that he was (and still is) famous throughout all of history for it. However…
Solomon gave his worship to another, to many others, actually, and his heart- to many others, actually, and God removed His blessing as a result.
In 1 Kings 11, the Bible records that Solomon “loved many foreign women…from the nations which theΒ LordΒ warned the children of Israel about [and]Β his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with theΒ LordΒ his God as the heart of David his father had been…Solomon did what was evil in the sight of theΒ Lord.” Solomon was warned and flat-out disobeyed the Lord. Why? Wouldn’t you think that, after all God had done for you, that you’d be content to simply live for Him forever? Sadly, the human heart is full of wickedness and wholly untrustworthy, as the Bible notes. (Jeremiah 17:9) Solomon gave his worship to another, to many others, actually, and his heart- to many others, actually, and God removed His blessing as a result because the Lord, in His holiness, will not tolerate sin and is jealous for His worship. (Exodus 34:14)
Thought for today
One of the names of God is “Jealous“, did you know that? Solomon’s fame was connected to the name of the Lord, yet as Solomon’s connection with the Lord diminished, so did the power of his rule and his kingdom, his legacy and all he had built. All that God had blessed him with was removed from his hands (1 Kings 11:11) and given to another, and he was left with scraps, mere bits of what he had once been given. God is absolutely jealous for your worship- and so is Satan by the way. Solomon fell into idolatry because he allowed too many outside influences in and they infected his heart until he disconnected to God, and then began to give his worship to other gods. The Lord is holy. He is protective and jealous of His worship. If you want to stay connected, you must disconnect from sin. “Cut it off” Jesus said in Matthew 5. You’ll never regret what you sacrifice or disconnect from in order to connect with the Lord. Worship is where that connection begins.
