Image or Reality?

‘...who may enter Your presence?...those who...do what is right...’ Psalm 15:1-2 NLT

Charles Swindoll writes, ‘Behind the scenes…life can be…a faÁade held together with cheap material. Solomon was a man upon whom God showered wisdom, success and wealth… [But] he let his relationship with the Lord slip… Some say success can ruin a man. I say [it] reveals who he was all along. Success doesn’t destroy character, it exposes it. During Solomon’s reign Israel’s wealth continued to build. David had won peace with an aggressive military campaign, and surrounding kingdoms held Israel in high regard… The threat to Solomon’s kingdom came from within. Like his father David, Solomon had many wives. They enticed him into idolatry, and when Rehoboam became king Israel was divided. The public man appeared genuine…but behind the scenes he emulated his father and grandfather. (2 Chronicles 11:18-23) He nurtured a public image while passing on a dark legacy to his sons…polishing his image by appearing to seek wise counsel, then rejecting it in favour of advice from his peers… When the kingdom’s wealth was pilfered by Egypt, Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze ones polished to shine like gold, but worthless in comparison…a third-class substitute after a first-class blunder… “Like produces like”-a lust for sensuality produced children with lust in their hearts. Within a generation or two a seed of compromise grew to rebellion in full bloom. David’s compromise weakened Solomon, and Solomon’s impacted Rehoboam. Finally, the sin mum loved and dad permitted, entangled the son. Have you fooled yourself into thinking you can manage the consequences of sin? Or considered the effect on the people you influence? If cameras were to film every aspect of your life, what would we see?’