Not too long ago we were hearing about Solomon in our readings during the daily Masses. Let's unpack 1 Kings 11.
Solomon, unlike his father, gave his heart away to the idols of the other nations. How did this happen? Through his many wives. God told the Israelites not to marry 'foreign' women. Why? Because they did not worship God, but instead worshipped many gods. But Solomon followed the way of the kings of the other nations and he married many women ... every time he made a pact with another king from another nation he took a daughter of that king to seal the pact. These many women brought their gods with them - and their beliefs. Solomon wanted to please his wives and so he built altars for them to worship their gods upon; and he eventually started to listen to their talk about these same false gods. Sadly, he began to make offerings up to those false gods. Because he adored the false gods, the kingdom which had only been together for about 120 years was torn apart at his death.
That should not have come as any surprise. God had not only given this law to all the Israelites, God had spoken to Solomon - twice - and reminded him to keep the covenant.
Solomon blew it. The entire nation of Israel suffered the consequences of his behavior.
... Well, how about truly considering these questions:
How much like Solomon am I?
How much like Solomon is our nation?
What might I need to do to get back on track with God?
What can I do to help the nation get back on track with God?
Got any thoughts about this that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear what you have to say!
Lent is great time to ask ourselves these questions. God is always calling us back to Himself. During Lent we can make this a special time to get to know Him better by studying Scripture, meditating on them, and to pray about them by putting ourselves into the story.
ReplyDeleteOur nation and it's leaders need our prayers now, more than ever.