Thankful for Grace

I've had quite a bit to say about Solomon recently. His reign over ancient Israel was remarkable, as was his commitment to the Lord early in his life. What's shocking is the spiritual breakdown that occurred later in his life. Solomon continued to live according to his heart's desires, particularly with women. Several of his wives wouldn't worship the Lord, so he built altars to the false gods. Then, under the influence of his wives, he also worshipped the false gods.

The Lord is rightly indignant about this. After all, He appeared to Solomon twice!! Living for the lord becomes pretty intimidating when we think about Solomon, the wisest person to live, specially anointed by the Lord, having seen the Lord twice, who ended up chasing other gods. He still worshipped the real God, but God wants to be the only God/god worshipped. If Solomon, who had everything going for him, turned from the Lord, how can I stay faithful for the rest of my life? I have much less wisdom, and I have only come close to seeing the Lord once in a dream.

Grace. This is the answer. I'm not trying to talk Christian-ese here, either. We've all experienced grace in some way. God's grace, however, is a perfect grace that comes from His love. We couldn't find ourselves in circumstances of grace on our own. God gives us grace - grace to follow Him every day. Solomon had the opportunity to repent, but it's not recorded (in 1 Kings anyway) whether he did that. Solomon's son, from whom the Israelite nation would be taken away, also had a second chance. Rehoboam chose instead to listen to friends, so God's word through Ahijah the prophet stood firm. We get second chances, too. We get grace, too.

Incidentally, Trish, I think this speaks a lot to your beef with people who claim to be sanctified. I could very well be one of those people whom you've heard claim to be entirely sanctified. I could very well be one of those people whose pride (or something) has caused you to question that. Any type of work the Lord does in our lives is an action of grace. We don't become perfect at that point. I, for one, need the Lord daily. He constantly shows Himself to me, also revealing parts of myself that need pruning. We live in grace. It's that grace that enables us to claim in faith that God's work of grace is being completed.