Week Thirteen: The King Who Had It All

I was tempted to call this week's lesson "The Frog King" but decided to go with the suggested title instead, "The King Who Had It All."  This week we come to the story of Solomon and in at least one book I've read he has been referred to as the "frog king."  That's because of an unusual experiment conducted years ago (without the permission of PETA I'm sure) where a frog was placed in a pot of boiling water.  Of course, the frog jumped out!  Frogs aren't stupid, after all.  Yet when the same frog was placed in a pot of comfortable, lukewarm water he sat back and relaxed nicely.  As the temperature of that water was slowly raised to the boiling point, the frog didn't budge.  He continued to sit back enjoying life while the water boiled around him... eventually to the point of boiling him to death!  Doesn't that describe the life of Solomon?

Solomon was handed life on a silver platter... literally!  (Actually Solomon's platter was probably gold since in his day silver was considered of little value.)  He had it all.  He had a great example in his father, David, who had secured the peace for Israel before handing the throne to Solomon.  He had all the wealth & riches one could imagine, and perhaps even more.  He had wisdom beyond his years and the respect of the nations around him.  Yet, his life ended in bitter disappointment and unfaithfulness.

"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely as David his father had done."  1 Kings 11:4-6

What happened to Solomon?  He started out with such promise.  He had every resource at his disposal and a heart devoted to God.  Yet, his story ends in bitter heartache... why?  Why didn't he jump out of the pot?  Why didn't he turn back to the LORD (and out of the boiling water) when he had the chance?

This week we're going to be exploring the life of Solomon and how it parallels so many in our day and time.  We may not have all the wealth he had... but we sure are familiar enough with the temptations of the world around us... and the pots of boiling water that they can be!