Passage Read: 1 Kings 14-17
Meditation Verses: 14:7-10
Thought
The very thing Jeroboam was afraid of, he brought on his family and all Israel! He wanted to save his life and feared that if Israel remained faithful to the Lord, they would also eventually reunite with Judah and he would be killed. So he consulted with unfaithful men and set up new gods for Israel, offending the God who made him king! Jeroboam lived out his days, but by his actions, he condemned his whole household, all but the son who died of disease, and all of Israel. God says it is because of the sins of Jeroboam that Israel would be cast out of the land. He was responsible for the doom of his own family and of the whole nation! As David was continually held up as the standard of righteous kings, so Jeroboam was the standard of wicked kings.
Application
It's never a good idea to disobey the Lord out of fear for my safety or success. I need to trust in the Lord in all things and not offend Him. I need to fully trust in Him as the source and guarantee of my life and security. I shouldn't turn to those who don't fear Him for ideas to safeguard my life or future. The future I need to be most concerned about is my eternal life. I neither want to jeopardize my eternal salvation, nor live to store up treasure on earth rather than in heaven. The more real heaven is to me, the more important storing up treasure there will be; the more important storing up treasure on heaven is to me, the more certainly I'll chose to honor the Lord even if my life or earthly future is in doubt.