James 4:17

Devotional Thoughts

By David Wilkerson

Disobedience to God’s Word will eventually end up in a breakdown of morals and Christian character.

It all begins with an act of blatant disobedience to a clear word from God. Add to that a half-hearted conviction for sin, a half-hearted repentance, and you will end up like Solomon: an absolute degenerate! “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. . . . For Solomon went after Ashtoreth . . . the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. . . . And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel” (1 Kings 11:4-9). These words send chills up my spine!

Solomon was now gospel-hardened. The Word of God had no impact on him whatsoever. He was so pathetic! Where once he built a house for one strange woman, there now stood a huge harem. The daughter of Pharaoh had become but one of a thousand lovers! Solomon himself was now old and haggard, while God was silent and angry with him. He no longer prayed to God and he had no joy left. His heart was sick as he wrote pitiful prose about the vanity and uselessness of life. Jerusalem had become polluted with heathen temples, built with high taxes. The king drank heavily, bored by all his gorgeous houses and gardens. His heart was full of idolatry, the days of touching God but faint memories. “All is vanity—it’s all for nothing” (see Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Is this the same man who once prayed so eloquently at the temple dedication? “What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man . . . which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven . . . and forgive . . . and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest . . . that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers” (1 Kings 8:38-40).

So go ahead—cling to your idols! Justify your areas of disobedience and excuse your little sins! One day it will break out into a raging, uncontrollable fire of immorality and apostasy.