1 Kings 11:31 (The prophet Ahijah) then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. 32 One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because he has forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did.

If you know the story of King David you know that he did many things that were not in agreement with the will and ways of God – among them sexually assaulting Bathsheba and then having her husband killed to cover up her pregnancy. But one thing he did NOT do, which appears to be huge in the eyes of God, is worship other gods. It’s one thing David got right. Unfortunately Solomon gets this wrong, falling into the trap of following after the gods of his 700 wives and 300 concubines.

Lord knows I fall short on many levels. The list is very long. But I do not follow after other gods, certainly not in the way of Solomon. Considering all the sins of my life this may seem like something small, but maybe it is not a small thing to God. At least passages like this one would make it appear so.

Lord give me grace to follow after you all the days of my life, for left to myself I would fail even that. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.