1 Kings 11: When a Heart Turns Away from God

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. -1 Kings 11:9-10

Despite Solomon’s great accomplishments, history records the dark side of Israel’s most prosperous leader. In 1 Kings 11, we read about his numerous wives (700!) who eventually led Solomon to follow other gods. The key concern of God? “His heart had turned away from the Lord.”

When a person becomes successful, the temptation is to believe success is due to their own abilities or accomplishments. Pride grows, leading to unwise actions that include forgetting God. In Solomon’s case, the Lord had spoken with him in a special way on two occasions, yet his success had become his downfall.

The lesson? If you become successful, do not turn your heart away from God. Doing so leads to mistakes focused on self that hurt you and others. In Solomon’s situation, the entire nation was divided as a result. The way to avoid a heart that turns from God is not to avoid success, but to draw near to God. Walk closely with him today. If you do, you’ll be successful no matter how the circumstances of your day turn out.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.