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 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

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1 Kings 12:25-33

 

25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.   26 Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." 28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there. 31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

NIV

Why is this self-centeredness so pervasive among powerful men? Jeroboam is king over the ten tribes of Israel, and he is so afraid that anyone who goes to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the temple will return to serve Rehoboam. Would that mean they would not return to their own tribe and homes, and find some place in Judah to live? If they did go to Jerusalem, did that mean their whole family, their wives and children would go with them? It just seems so self-serving for Jeroboam to do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD and build golden calves. Then, to determine of his own will a day for a festival, another self-serving idea, that would not be right in the eyes of the LORD. The truth we learn from Jeroboam is to follow the ways of the LORD rather than our own ways, our own ideas, our own self-interests. We have seen all too often that some believers would rather adhere to their idea of Christianity rather than to the truth. Some would prefer traditions rather than truth. If we can make a list of activities that we cannot do as Christians, then we can abide by our own self-serving lists. It is easy to say that we should not do this, and then not do it. It is not so easy to adhere to the truth that we should do something, because we find it does not fit our own interests. We wonder if, in some sense, we have developed our own brand of Christianity, our own golden calf. We might even have pride about how well we adhere to the rules we established for being a “Good Christian,” but they are our rules, our self-centered, self-serving rules, even ones that scripture is silent about. Why would Jeroboam build golden calves unless he was so concerned about his own interests? Why would we develop our rules and regulations unless we were worried about our own interests? When Jesus gave us those two greatest commandments, which encompass all the law and prophets, those were not about what we should not do, but about what we should do. Jeroboam was focused on self; Jesus wants us to focus on God and others. Where is our focus?