Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Apr 21st, 2020 Like Father, Like Son … by Phil Erickson, Jr.

Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 12 – 14 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Mark 13 – 14; Proverbs 21; Psalms 101 – 105

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 121

Read the “0421 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:” (1 Kings 12:6-8)

Most of the sermons, devotions, and Sunday school lessons I’ve listened to or read about Rehoboam have dealt with the issue of his pride, that he was an all around bad guy, and that during his reign“…Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.” (1Kings 14:22).  And, that’s all true. We need to heed the warnings of those messages. However, every time that I come across this passage, my first thought is, “What happened?”. How did we go from Pop-pop David, a man after God’s own heart, to wicked, prideful, rug-rat Rehoboam? How did an entire nation go from loving and serving God, to doing more evil than ever before? It’s a sobering thought, and it scares me. It scares me to think that in a few generations, you can go from one end of the spectrum to the other. 

Rehoboam made all of his own choices. He chose to live and lead the way he did. But I think all of this might have started with his father, Solomon. When I read this story, I think of Solomon. Again, Rehoboam made his own choices, but he learned how to live, and how to lead, from his dad. Which is what scares me. God has given me a great responsibility as a parent. My kids will learn how to live, how to love, and how to lead – from me. Solomon started well. He loved God, feared God, and was humble. But that changed. 

Here’s a few things I think we can learn from the story of Solomon and Rehoboam:

1 – Stay Focused. 

God has given all of us a purpose. It’s different for all of us. Solomon’s purpose was to lead the people as a king. He was to seek God’s wisdom in leading and guiding the kingdom. As a father, he was to lead his family. He was to love them, and teach them how to love, and to one day lead. But Solomon got off track. He became enamored with doing everything person could possibly do. In Ecclesiastes, he tells how he experienced all the things that anyone could possibly imagine would bring pleasure. I’m sure not all of the things he experienced were bad things. But while he was doing those things, he was not focused on being a king or a father. His focus became pleasure. His focus became getting all the things, and doing all the things that made him happy…and guess who was watching? Rehoboam. Do those following you know that you care about your purpose? Because if you don’t, why should they? Stay focused.

2 – Stay Humble.

When Solomon first became king, God let him choose anything he wanted. All he had to do was ask. Solomon knew that he needed God more than anything if he would be effective as a king, so he asked God for wisdom. He was humble. He leaned on God for everything. But somewhere along the way, Solomon aloud himself to think that he was ok on his own, and started doing whatever he thought was right. One of my saddest memories from growing up was a phrase that my dad would say to me often. Its makes me sad, because at the time, I hated hearing it, but now I know he was right. Every stinkin’ time. He would say, “Do what you want to do Phil, ‘cuz that’s what you’re gonna do anyway.” Now that I’m a dad, and I see the other side of it, I get a sick feeling in my gut when I think about how my pride so often caused my mom and dad to grieve. They knew what was best for me, but I thought I was right, so I did my own thing. Somewhere along the line, this is how Solomon started acting with God. And guess who was watching? Rehoboam. Stay humble.

I started out by saying that this passage scares me. It does. It scares me to think that my choices, my actions, and my pride can have such a huge impact on those following me. I am so thankful that God gave me parents who were focused and humble. Perfect? Not even close! 🙂 But real. I pray everyday for God to give me wisdom. I want my kids and those following me to see someone with a genuine love for God, someone who is focused on what God has given them, and someone who is humble. And I’ll pray for you too. We need the next generation to go farther for God than we can imagine. But they’re watching us.