In or Out

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

IN OR OUT

1 Kings 2:36-46

36 Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37 The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head." 38 Shimei answered the king, "What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said." And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time. 39 But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran off to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath." 40 At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath. 41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42 the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, 'On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die'? At that time you said to me, 'What you say is good. I will obey.' 43 Why then did you not keep your oath to the LORD and obey the command I gave you?" 44 The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45 But King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain secure before the LORD forever." 46 Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and killed him. The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon's hands.

NIV

Although this is the story of Shimei and the kindness of Solomon, it is also a story about making a commitment, or in this case, an oath to stay in Jerusalem, and in doing so, would have life. However, Shimei agreed to stay, and if he left, he would surely die. This could be another tale of the Garden of Eden, where God told Adam he could eat from anything in the garden and he would live, but from that one tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if he ate from that, he would die. But this is about staying in Jerusalem, and that brings us to the commitment we made to the Lord about staying within his kingdom. Because we agreed to stay in his kingdom, it means he is the King, and His word is sovereign. As long as we stay in Jesus, we will live, but if we leave for whatever reason, we will surely die. This idea of once saved, always saved, that some are of the persuasion, is simply not found in the scripture. However, this story is another example of the need to obey our commitment to stay in Jesus, in his kingdom. When he taught his disciples and us the pattern of prayer, he included that we should have the desire in our hearts for his will to be done on earth, that is, within us, just as his will is done in heaven. But we must stay in his kingdom. Shimei shows us the wrong in going after his slaves, which, in his case, was his property, or material possessions. We know we cannot serve both our Lord and material possessions, but is it possible that we let that line between the two get a little fuzzy? There is an inherent danger in leaving the kingdom to pursue materialism. We cannot pursue both Jesus and the world. We cannot be in both; it has to be one or the other. As long as Shimei stayed in Jerusalem, he lived, but if he left, he would die. He could not have it both ways, and neither can we. When we sing the words to that song, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back” that means we have decided to stay in Jesus, to remain there the rest of our lives and not to turn to the right or the left, and not to chase after material possessions, which includes putting our trust in the things while saying we put our trust in Jesus. The question is, are we in or out?