Finishing Strong

I’ve been reading through the Old Testament lately. Coming to the books of Samuel, Chronicles and Kings I noticed a sort of trend. Men of God starting strong, but finishing poorly. Specifically looking at Saul, Solomon, and Asa, what can we learn from them and how can we as believers finish strong?

The life of Saul plays out like a blockbuster movie. Handsome young man picked out of obscurity to become the leader of a nation. He is anointed and follows God’s commands and is blessed with power, money and fame. However it seems to end in tragedy with him disobeying God, losing the kingdom, and trying to kill his successor in a jealous rage. In his latter years he turns to witchcraft, dies by suicide, and his sons die in battle. (1 Sam 9-31)

Then there is King Solomon. God comes to him and tells him to ask for anything he desires. Solomon choses wisely and asks for wisdom to govern the people. God blesses him with money and power because of his humility. Unfortunately in Solomons latter years, he turned his heart from God by marrying many foreign wives. He begins worshipping their false gods. Solomon is warned by God, but does not listen. He is judged by his reign of peace ending and division and conflict promised to his future generations. (1 Kings 3, 11)

Lastly, there is King Asa. He tore down the altars and temples to the foreign gods and decreed they all worship God alone. He turned to God in his time of need and defeated the Ethiopian army when he was outnumbered almost 2 to 1. His reign knew peace until he put his trust in an alliance with a king, instead of asking God for help again. God sent a prophet to rebuke him, but he didn’t repent and actually imprisoned the prophet. When his health failed in old age, he still refused to turn to God. (2 Chronicles 14-16)

There is a lot that can be drawn out from these three kings lives. They were taken down by taking their eyes off of God. They were done in by pride, love for the things of this world, and an unwillingness to repent or hardness of heart.

Pride: Webster’s dictionary describes it as “inordinate self-esteem or conceit”. Conceit is “excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue”. Pride causes us to value ourselves as worth more than we actually are. Pride makes our head big and our chest puffy. Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” Pride may look appealing, yet always ends in disaster. However humility, is the opposite of pride. Philippians 2:3-4 ESV “ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Humility puts “you” before “me”. Humility does not go unnoticed by God. Proverbs 22:4 ESV “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” Humility brings blessings, but pride takes them away.

Love for the things of this world: Solomon “loved” many foreign wives. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines! In his era, having a lot of wives, concubines, and children was a symbol of a man’s wealth and status. It was a way to impress people. Nonetheless, any love not rooted in the Lord will draw you away from the Lord. Solomon was drawn away to their false gods. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was He answered “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 ESV) We are first called to love God because He is love (1 John 4:8). By putting God first, I learn not only how to love, but how to keep order and balance in my life. Anything that is drawing my attention away from God needs to be removed or put back in it’s proper place. Ironically, Solomon penned most of Proverbs and in his old age did not take his own advice. Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Hardness of heart: The bible says hardness of heart is like plugging your ears and shutting your eyes. (Is 6:9-10, Matt 13:13-15) The image that comes to mind is a child doing this. They are literally trying to tune you out. I am still present, but I can’t interact with them. It’s the same with God. He is still present, but our fellowship is gone. Proverbs 28:14 “Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” Hardening my heart is the same as inviting trouble. I am opening myself up to conflict. However when we fail and ask for forgiveness, God will never turn us away and we can be restored. (Psalm 51:17)

We can learn so much from God’s word. We can look at the lives of King Saul, Solomon, and Asa and see how they started strong, but finished poorly. Three things that did them in was; pride, love for things of this world, and hardness of heart. In contrast, I want to end my journey like Paul. In 2 Timothy 4:7 he writes “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”