Who is Getting in the Way (2 Chronicles 8)

2 Chronicles 8:11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “No wife of mine shall dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places where the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”

Solomon had followed David’s directions completely in building the house for the Lord. Unfortunately also followed David in other things, like marrying outside of his faith. If this woman he married is not good enough to live in the house of David, maybe he should have thought she not good enough for marriage. This is the first of many marriages for him, and one of the first places he begins to fall away from God. In Deuteronomy 7, God told Moses they should not intermarry with other nations because “because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods”. 

We cannot think that even though we meet all the criteria of a good Christian, God will over look one area of our lives where we slipped. As Jesus tells us, if there is something in our lives causing us to sin, we must cut if off. In Solomon’s case, it is similar to if we are dating someone, but we are embarrassed to introduce them to family or to our church friends because they wouldn’t approve, maybe we should reconsider our relationship. It is so hard to be married to someone who is not in line with the Church’s teachings and expect not to go get pulled away yourself. I know this first hand. My husband is not of faith, yet I was a stubborn young person and not yielding to advice of others. I did allow myself to become lazy in faith because I did not have a strong backbone in our relationship to carry me to church. Luckily for me, through the blessings of my children, I realized where I was wrong and have fixed myself in faith. And I am my own backbone and make sure my house knows God’s commandments. I have surrendered my marriage to God. I am still chiseling away at my husband’s reluctance, and his lack of faith isn’t going to stop me from growing mine.

This is not a road many can take without failure. I wouldn’t want this struggle for any of my children. So I will try to set God’s rules and reasonings behind them for my children to follow. I had heard the rules but never understood the reasoning. I don’t want them to struggle the way I had to. Whether it is a relationship, or addiction, gossip, pornography, or any other failure in life that is pulling you away from God, you must really access in your heart if that things is worth your soul.