Topic: MIND YOUR HEART
Text: 1 Kings 12:25-33
12:25 Then Jeroboam built[a] Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel.
12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:
12:27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
12:28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!”
12:29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
12:30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
12:31` He made [b]shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
12:32 Jeroboam [c]ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.
12:33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he [d]ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
STUDY:
If there is anything a man should fear, it is his own heart; and that it is why the safest thing to do is to hand it over to God. Where did the trouble of Jeroboam begin? His heart! He said in his heart… Who was in charge of his heart? Why did he allow his heart to go wild? Why did he not place it firmly with God? Our hearts can deceive us; our hearts can be slippery.
The conversation that resulted in Jeroboam’s great sin, began and grew in his heart, until it was eventually hatched. He said in his heart “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah.”
How did the kingdom come to Jeroboam in the first place? Was it not the Lord who told him about it through Ahijah the prophet? Why could he not trust the one who brought it about to keep it? Paul warned the Galatians: “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). Watch your heart, child of God. Let God rule your heart and you will be safe.
Prayer:
Lord, I yield my heart to You.
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