Have you ever had a friend or a relative that was a little gullible? Maybe you would politely call them impressionable. You know, someone that was easy to pass a trick or prank on. Some people are quick to believe, quick to trust and as a result, easy to fool. When I was growing up, there was a host of “blonde” jokes that played off of this. I saw a funny video the other day where a dad sends his 16-year-old daughter into the auto parts store to buy some "blinker fluid" for her new car. The exchange when she gets back to the car is more than humorous. It’s pretty clear that we can, if we try hard enough, fool other people.
And in a slick stroke of irony, if we try hard enough, we can indeed fool ourselves as well. We can believe something deep enough that we can convince ourselves that it is truth when it is not. We can convince ourselves that the lie is not very big, the cheating is needed and unavoidable, or that the stealing is somehow justified by our great need or deserved by the other party. And like it or not, we can be as convincing as Perry Mason when it comes to justifying sin in our lives. We’ll tell ourselves, it’s just a little sin, arguing ourselves into the idea that sin somehow has a secret weighting classification that God has never let us in on. We’ll tell ourselves, this sin is something that everybody else does too, so God must somehow give us a pass on it. The strange idea that if I follow 75 lemmings off a cliff that they will perish and I will be spared because my circumstances were somehow special and different than theirs. Folks, admit it, when it comes to fooling people, the easiest person to fool on this planet is yourself.
But there is one that absolutely cannot be fooled. Almighty God. He, being our Heavenly Father and our very Creator, sees all, knows all, and reigns over our lives in loving justice, truth, and righteousness. You can twist the words of God and fool yourself, but you cannot fool God. You can be ignorant of God’s Word and claim that as your defense, but it’s a pointless argument, you can’t fool God. You can follow the crowd and hope for group immunity, God will see right through it. You can perform the same sin over and over so many times it is now such a habit it doesn’t even sting, God is not fooled by your complacency. Friends, you can fool other people, you can fool yourself, but you can never fool the God that created you.
Today in 1 Kings chapter 9 we see some really big “ifs” that deal with just this. Solomon has now completed the house of the Lord (7 years), his own house (13 years) and the house of his main wife, the queen of Egypt. These three structures occupied almost 24 years of the prime of his life. Twenty-four years of planning, preparing, managing, and inspecting. At the end of this tremendous building period we are told that this was
“all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do.” (1 Kings 9:1)
It seems that Solomon had a clear plan to serve God and now that the temple was finished, he was finished. This is a common mistake that many Christians make today. That God is somehow limited to a specific project, mission, program or time frame in their lives. The mission is done for a while therefore serving God is done for a while. Yet serving God, whether a project is at hand or not, is a daily occurrence that should drive the life, feed the heart and satisfy the soul.
It seems God sensed this lull in purpose and so we see Him visit Solomon for the second time. The bulk of figures we see in scripture never receive a single visit from God. Rare few witness a direct message from God once. But we see here that Solomon is in a remarkable group that hears from God more than once. Considering this, the message must be important. And it is just that. The Lord says:
“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”
“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
“But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’” 1 Kings 9:3-9
Powerful Words from Almighty God to Solomon and powerful Words to us today. Notice specifically the two big ‘ifs’ in God’s message.
1) “if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws..”
Folks, just because you accepted Jesus as your Savior does not mean this ‘if’ is certain. Just because you got Baptized does not mean that you will walk with integrity before the Lord. Just because you are a member of a church and attend every Sunday does not mean that you are following His laws with a heart of integrity. Just because you call yourself a Christian and talk the talk does not mean you are walking the walk. Folks, you can fool everybody in the world on these, but you can’t fool God. There is one way to follow God faithfully with a heart of integrity, all other ways are gullible salesmanship to yourself and those around you. There is only one way to do all of God’s commands, decrees, and laws. And notice the word “all” there. If you fail at one, you fail at all…period.
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10
Don’t fool yourself here, this is an amazingly difficult command. One that must be tended to daily with great effort, respect, and perseverance.
2) “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.”
Friends, this is a big “if” that lives hinge upon daily. Lives fail, falter and are dashed upon the rocks of sin daily because they think they can fool God.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Galatians 6:7
God cannot be mocked, fooled, tricked or deceived. He created your heart and can peer into its depths. Sin is sin and all sin has great cost to us, others, and the quality of our walk with Christ. God saw that Solomon was now done with his work and that idle hands would now have time to seek out other purpose. And sure enough, within just a few years, Solomon would pick his poison and stray greatly from the Lord.
Friends, notice that God did not give Solomon some unattainable goal to strive for in his righteousness. He asked him to simply strive to be like one man…his father David. Why? Well, it wasn’t because David was perfect. It wasn’t because David was sin free. It wasn’t because David had never disappointed the Lord resulting in great chastisement and correction. It was because David had a repentant heart. David’s heart was after the Lord’s and David ‘got it.’ He knew that people mess up and get entangled in sin. He knew that people, while trying to fool themselves, hurt themselves, hurt others, and damage their walk with Christ. But David also knew of the love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness of his Heavenly Father. He knew that God is ready to forgive a heart that is faithful to repent. David was a murdering adulterer, but he never stopped asking for God’s forgiveness. His heart was an open well that constantly sought the living water that is God’s Word. His heart was a spring in which praise flowed forth for a God that was rich in forgiveness towards him. His heart truly belonged to God and it showed, even when He was trying to fool God.
Today, I pray that you are a daily student of God’s Word. How will you know what the commandments of the Lord are if you don’t read it? You’ll never master it, but that doesn’t mean you ever stop. If you’ve fallen away from Bible study or if you’ve never started, I have a challenge for you today. Commit to spend 5 minutes a day studying God’s Word and do it for 30 days in a row. No excuses, no delay and no procrastination. The more you know about God’s Word, the more you know about Him. For you see, you don’t study the Bible to learn more about the Bible, you study the Bible to know more about God.
There are big ifs in your life today. Grow closer to God through His Word today and hear directly from Him how you can be in His blessings by giving your heart over to His Word, His Law, His Commandments, and His statutes. For it is living in these that you will flourish and thrive in the Lord.
Blessings.
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