The Priceless Woman Study |
King Lemuel (Solomon) had the responsibility of a whole kingdom. But, more importantly, he had a responsibility to live a life that would not disavow the meaning of his name, "belonging to God.” He is the same Solomon who gave God 1,000 burnt offerings in 1 Kings 3:3-14. But later his life was totally out of control in 1 Kings 11:1-4 with excessive drinking, 1,000 "strange women” (concubines, mistresses) and worshipping other gods. No wonder his mother was very concerned.
Sin can creep up on us so subtly. It starts with a simple suggestion from the devil…. "go ahead, a little won’t hurt”…. "you can stop at any time”…. "you’re not hurting anyone.” Sin is sin. There is no "big” sin or "little” sin to God. Whether it is a sin that we commit, or an instruction from God that we omit, it’s all the same to Him. Sin is "missing the mark.” We all have sinned. God says in His word, "If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—He won’t let us down; He’ll be true to Himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of Him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God” (1 John 1:8-10 MSG)