Christian Devotional – July 15, 2024

Times of Transition, Day 11

Solomon’s “short” reign. Read 1 Kings chapter 11.

While there have been a few chapters that we read about the reign of Solomon, there wasn’t nearly as many as were written about David’s reign. Why is that? It has to do with the fact that Solomon disobeyed God. He started out strong and followed the Lord and did what was right, but unfortunately as his life went on he was distracted by the women in his life. He began following anything and everything else besides God.

As a result, God tore the kingdom away from him. What could have been chapters and chapters of all the wonderful things Solomon did to glorify God became consolidated down into one chapter which details roughly 40 years of his reign. Yes, Solomon built the Temple. Yes, Solomon built his own palace. But after that, we really have no record of any of the other deeds of Solomon listed in the Bible because he did not follow God.

So even though he reigned for 40 years, his reign was short in the time span of the Bible coverage because he didn’t do what God wanted him to do. How would our lives be recorded? Regardless of the actual length of time we have lived, are they long and lengthy in deeds that glorify God? Or would it be consolidated into just a couple of verses.