It entices me off the path, and I plunge through wet overgrowth for a closer look.
Is this a good flower or a bad flower?
All I know is that it’s pretty.
Demands a close-up.
You can’t always tell the inside by the outside.
And the allure of the pretty can be dangerous.
Solomon found that out.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 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 Molek 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. ~2 Kings 11:1-6 (NIV)
The allure of the pretty sliced Solomon’s heart.
Divided it.
And cost him the kingdom.
Maybe he originated the Irish toast, “Here’s to our wives and sweethearts. May they never meet.”
Pastor Bill reminded us yesterday that we are the bride of Christ.
The one who redeemed us and loves us with an everlasting love.
That we enter into a covenant relationship where we are to cleave only to Him.
And yet we have a tendency to run after other lovers.
To follow the allure of the pretty.
To commit spiritual adultery.
To set up our own idols.
To worship the pretty instead of the Creator of the pretty.
The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. ~Matthew 6:21 (Message)
And we plunge off the path.
********************
I’ve been grumpy.
I don’t know why.
But I don’t like it.
Except maybe I do.
Maybe I get some reward from it.
I remember complaining about something almost 30 years ago to a pastor friend.
I don’t remember what it was, but I still remember his response.
“You must like it. Otherwise you wouldn’t do it.”
Zing!
Ouch!
I hate that those words still hang in my head.
Because it turns it all back on me.
My sweetest sweetheart.
My biggest idol.
It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. ~Deuteronomy 13:4 (NIV)
So true. I used to think ill of the Israelites for grumbing before God, chasing after idols and not listening to God. Then one day I realized I did the very same thing.
The picture is stunning, and your analogy perfect.
And how many times have I run around the same mountain! Sigh.
Sandy,
Well, this one stings doesn’t it? We all do things for a reason, and I wonder what I get out of some of the things I do.
Thanks for reflecting and being vulnerable.
I think I heard somewhere that a child gets some kind of reward out of bad behavior. So now I have to figure out what I’m really seeking when I’m grumpy.
Ouch! is right … and so true.
Sigh . . .
Yes, that does hurt the toes a bit! It’s funny that–you can’t tell the inside from looking at the outside. Only One can see all the way inside. Don’t you love how He works in the deepest places?
But oh how sometimes I dislike what He digs up.
Very thought provoking . . . calling yourself your sweetest sweetheart. Wow . . . I think it is true of me too. I serve a lot of people, but I look well after myself, too.
fondly,
Glenda
We do need to take care of ourselves in order to care for others. That’s not serving self. But–and I’m thinking out loud–who are we serving when we run ourselves down serving others? And what is our reward in that? Wheels turning . . .
I love/hate those simple encounters that have such a lasting and profound impact on us. That’s a good word and so true. Part of us must like it to keep doing it. That’s why we need His character and life formed in us deeper and deeper. Thanks Sandra.
We’ve been studying the neuroscience of the brain in Bible study–as part of our study on Colossians and reprogramming our minds. It appears that God physically designed us to enable us to rewire the our brain pathways so He can transform our thinking and behavior. I’m going to have to blog on it. 🙂
Oh you are speaking right at me with that comment about grumpiness…and liking it. Yes, I think I make complaining my idol more often than I’d like to admit. Gosh I have a lot of idols…never thought of complaining as one before, until you and your pastor friend from 30 years ago brought it to my attention here.
Thanks for opening my eyes (always, Sandra). And that Columbine blossom is a beauty!
GASP! Really? A columbine? It was just hanging out along a path in our cemetery. I didn’t even know we had columbines in Michigan. I’m so excited!
“Ouch!” is right… That is a real zinger. This whole post is.
I read about Solomon and think, “what a swinger. How could that be the same guy who wrote God’s word? An integral player in the Kingdom?” It does not compute. Imagine that today. Preaching on Sunday and running off to my girl collection on Monday. Weird, weird, weird stuff in the bible! But it got the best of him, and that is the lesson. God had something better for him than that.
Thanks for your words and reflective heart, Oh Deep See Diver!
Love your photo of the wild columbine (and yes, that’s what it is), and I think you were safe going off the path this time since God allowed you to discover something of beauty that He created.
When it comes to being grouchy, I don’t think we like being that way so much as our hormones sometimes force it on us. Giving voice to it by complaining, on the other hand, is a voluntary action, and so hard to resist. We surely do need to “hold fast to Him.”
I love your comment that suggests we need to worship the Creator of the pretty rather than the pretty itself. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of how we’re admonished to hate the sin, not the sinner. 🙂