King Jeroboam

Today, as I was reading 1 Kings, I was struck by the way Jeroboam's actions led directly to His failure in God's sight. It was not always this way. The Lord had chosen him, like David previously, out of relative obscurity, and seemingly gave to him 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel to govern. God promised Jereboam amazing blessing if he would merely follow the Lord and His statutes. Jeroboam proved himself unworthy of such a gift/responsibility, but the Lord didn't yank everything away from him as soon as Jeroboam began setting up golden calves for the people to worship. The Lord sent a prophet to warn him, and, after Jeroboam rejected the prophecy and tried to rid himself of God's messenger, God demonstrated His power to Jeroboam by afflicting his hand and then immediately healing him.

Still, Jeroboam went back to his old ways--seemingly undaunted.

The Lord afflicted Jeroboam's son, and still Jeroboam did not repent--his son died, mercifully, because Scripture says that this young man had found favor with God. The Lord did not wish for Jeroboam's son to suffer the same fate that Jeroboam's descendants would face later--being utterly destroyed and eaten by dogs and birds--depending on whether they were in Jerusalem.

It's interesting and terrifying to me that Jeroboam himself suffered so little, while his family and people suffered greatly because of his sin. Maybe that proved even worse for him?

I look at my own life and see ways that I fall short of God's mark, anger and bitterness that I struggle with, and evil thoughts--and I fear the Lord, who would be righteous in granting me the same fate as Jeroboam. But I'm thankful that He has imparted the righteousness of His Son to me, giving me new hope every morning that He will complete the good work of transformation that He has begun in me. If you have been given much and are now squandering God's gift, stop now, turn around, and give your life back to the Lord.