1 Kings 21:1-29
Today’s passage reminds me of the saying: “be sure your sins
will find you out.” We are often
deceived into thinking that we can do some things in secret that will not be
discovered; and from a human perspective that may be true. However, from God’s perspective that is never
true; He always knows everything that we do and all that happens in our
lives. We must be very careful not to
let the desires of our hearts lead us down a path of destruction through
disobedience to the Lord. This passage
is also surprising in that it also demonstrates that there is hope for those
who disobey if they will truly repent.
We must constantly check our hearts to make sure that we have not been deceived
into thinking that God is unaware of our deeds, but we must also search our
hearts to make sure that we have truly repented of our sin.
AHAB’S GRIEF: Ahab had a neighbor named Naboth. Naboth had a vineyard that was very beautiful
and well kept. Ahab wanted to purchase
the vineyard in order to have a garden next to his house. Up until this point there is nothing wrong
with the story. However, when Naboth
refuses to sell the property that belongs to his family; Ahab begins to pout. He is overcome by grief, goes to bed and
seems to fall into a depression. It is
so easy for us to be disappointed by the things that we don’t have and forget
about all of the blessings we do have.
Ahab is doing just that. The
reality is that Ahab has tons of land at his disposal and could have built a
garden anywhere. Instead of being
grateful for all that he does have he is grieved over the one thing that he can’t
have. We would be wise to examine our
own hearts for the same type of ingratitude.
Are we more focused on the many blessings that God has granted in our
lives or the few desires we have that God has chosen to withhold?
JEZEBEL’S GREED: Jezebel is far more aggressive than Ahab
and simply cannot understand why Ahab would accept Naboth’s refusal to sell and
just lay down and pout. Jezebel is drunk
with power and her heart if full of greed so she simply sets up a means by
which Naboth will be eliminated.
Ironically she does so by paying false witnesses to accuse him of blaspheming
God. She assumes that she can just do
this without having any consequences in her own life. Sin is often like that. We can clearly and easily see the immediate benefits
that sin will bring into our lives; pleasure, financial gain or some other
comfort. What we can rarely see are the
eternal or even eventual consequences of our sin. Greed is ultimately at the heart of our
sin. We want something that we don’t
have and are willing to disobey God in order to get it. We must train our heats to be satisfied and
grateful with what God has given us.
ELIJAH’S GRADE: Elijah confronts Ahab as soon as he goes
down to take possession of the vineyard.
God has revealed Ahab’s actions to Elijah and so Elijah goes and passes God’s
judgment on the king. Ahab’s actions
bring about a failing grade from God’s evaluation and Elijah has the job of
communicating this to Ahab. The
consequences of Ahab’s actions have earned him condemnation from God. Like the evil kings before him; Ahab is
condemned to a humiliating death and his entire family is cursed by God. No vineyard could be worth this price. In reality, no pleasure that sin affords is
worth the consequences of that sin. We
must always be aware of the fact that one day each of us will stand before the
Lord where He will grade us according to our deeds. There will be rewards for obedience and faith
but there will also be loss for disobedience and doubt. God’s rewards are worth waiting for and the
consequences of sin are worth avoiding.
We must constantly remind ourselves of this truth when we are tempted.
GOD’S GRACE: To his credit, when Ahab hears of the
consequences of his actions; he repents.
He realizes how foolish and ungrateful he has been and tears his clothes
as a sign of his repentance before the Lord.
We finally see Ahab respond to the Lord in humility and recognize the
foolishness of his own sin. This is the
response that should happen in each of our hearts when we are confronted with
our sin. Ahab does not make excuses,
blame Jezebel or threaten to kill Elijah for confronting him. Ahab does the only thing that there is to do
when we come to grips with our sin. Ahab
repents and throws himself down before the Lord. God’s amazing grace is what Ahab finds when
he casts himself at the feet of God.
There will still be consequences for Ahab’s sin but they were delayed
because of Ahab’s humility. We must all remember
how futile it is to try to excuse or diminish our sin. True humility and repentance is the only
response that God is looking for when He confronts us. He is faithful to respond to our repentance
with grace, mercy and love.
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