We are a society that loves to make exceptions. We all do it, and we all expect to be allowed to do it. We play by the rules, we do the things we’re supposed to do, but there comes a time when we all expect those rules and expectations to be bent, just for us.
It’s one thing to have exceptions in everyday life…it’s quite another to have them in your relationship with God. Yet again, be honest with yourself…do you have them? If so, you’re not alone.
“And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.” (1 Kings 3:3)
Solomon was the king God would chose to build a house for His Name. He was the man who would throw a massive celebration at the dedication of that house, the man who’s wisdom would cause people to come from far and wide to hear him.
And, as we read, he was the man who walked in the statutes of his father David, the king by which every other king would be measured. Don’t think much of that? Read through the rest of 1 and 2 Kings, and see just how rare those qualities were in other kings. Trust me…it’s not a characteristic that was going to be found very often.
Yet Solomon had an exception: he worshipped at the high places, or in layman’s terms, he worshipped like the world.
The high places were acceptable to everyone, but God. The high places were where the nations that surrounded Israel worshipped. The people of Israel, not having a temple yet, would go up to the high places to worship.
It reminds me that, just as they wanted a king like the nations around them, they would worship just like the nations around them. The world was dictating their relationship with God.
Is the world dictating your relationship with God, or is He? Is His Word your guide and source of wisdom, or is popular opinion? Are you like Solomon and Israel, following the Lord in many ways, yet having “exceptions.” Maybe there are things that make you uncomfortable between what the world says and what the Word says? Which side will you fall on?
Are you going to be an exception? Or are you going to make exceptions?
The Wading Pool 