Stay awake, Finish Well

So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:6

Let this not be said about me! I followed the lord but not wholly. I did evil in the sight of the Lord. What a dreadful thing to be said about a person. Our good does not outweigh our bad. It is said that you can do everything right and no one notices but if you do one thing wrong it can destroy you. How many pastors have preached boldly, served God faithfully, had successful ministries and then one day they commit adultery and all is lost. Their preaching is counted as hypocrisy and their ministry is destroyed overnight. Solomon started well but finished bad. Matthew Henry tells us, “ He left his first love, lost his zeal for God, and did not persevere to the end as he had begun; therefore it is said he was not perfect, because he was not constant; and he followed not God fully, because he turned from following him, and did not continue to the end.” ¹

It is so dangerous to put your guard down, become complacent in your walk, stop examining yourself and your sanctification, to fall into a life of easy. We must be given fully to God and his work constantly, day after day until we die. We must pour out our life for the sake of Jesus Christ and the advancement of his kingdom. We must not dwell on or look for the comforts of this world or a life of ease. We must pour out our short life on this earth, work for God while we still have strength, and finish the race. We must stay awake! Reading through the Bible we see countless leaders who did not finish well but where like Solomon. Don't fall into this pattern. Stay awake!

1 Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (1 Ki 11:1–8). Peabody: Hendrickson.