Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Responsible. Being Good Stewards of Gods Gifts

BE RESPONSIBLE

Published by David C. Cook

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without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved; NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; and NLT are taken from the New Living Translation of the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2010934947

ISBN 978-1-4347-0054-4

eISBN 978-0-7814-0563-8

2002 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Responsible published by Victor Books
in 2002 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 1-56476-790-6

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: iStockphoto

Second Edition 2010

Contents

: An Introduction to Be Responsible by Ken Baugh

1. (1 Kings 12; 1 Chronicles 29:2230)

2. (1 Kings 34; 2 Chronicles 1)

3. (1 Kings 56; 7:1351;
2 Chronicles 24)

4. (1 Kings 8:19:9, 2528;
2 Chronicles 57)

5. (1 Kings 7:112;
9:1010:29; 2 Chronicles 8:19:28)

6. (1 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 9:2931)

7. (1 Kings 12:124; 14:2131;
2 Chronicles 1012)

8. (1 Kings 12:2514:20)

9. (1 Kings 15:116:28; 2 Chronicles 1316)

10. (1 Kings 1718)

11. (1 Kings 19)

12. (1 Kings 2022)

13. (Reviewing 1 Kings)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Responsible

by Ken Baugh

On April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m., disaster struck. The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg that ruptured her hull. In less than three hours, she vanished in the icy waters of the Atlantic, taking with her 1,552 passengers. The Titanic was the pride of Ireland, built in Belfast, and was the largest ship of her day. The ship was so impressive that she was thought to be unsinkable, yet five days into her maiden voyage the impossible happened. The radio operators ignored at least fourteen warnings from other ships of hazardous ice fields. Six of those warnings they received on the day of the disaster. The Titanic was fitted with only twenty lifeboats, and many passengers didnt bother to board the first lifeboats, because they thought the ship would not sink.

The sinking of the Titanic has become one of the worlds great disasters, and all because of pride. Pride is one of the deadliest of all vices. Solomon tells us, Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18 NIV ). Solomon had a clear understanding of the tragic consequences of pride, yet he allowed it to run unchecked throughout his life, and it eventually shipwrecked his faith.

The book of 1 Kings is a case study on the effects of pride. The Big Idea that runs throughout 1 Kings is watch out for the pride of life. And its in this vice of pride that we discover just how different Solomon was from his father, David. David was not an arrogant man. Yes, he had his issues, but David never forgot that it was the Lord who raised him up from the status of a lowly shepherd boy to become king of Israel. Solomon, on the other hand, was born and raised in royalty, wealth, and privilegethe breeding ground for arrogance.

I think David saw Solomons prideful character as he was growing up, because he warned him two different times to carefully walk in the ways of the Lord (1 Chron. 28:9; 1 Kings 2:13). Not only that, but the Lord Himself warned Solomon twice as well: If you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life (1 Kings 3:14; see also 9:45 NIV). Notice that the Lord said if. If you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands The Lord gave Solomon the choice to take responsibility for his character flaws by walking in His ways according to His Word.

One of Gods requirements for every king of Israel was to make a personal copy of the book of Deuteronomy, to literally write it out by hand. When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself these laws on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. Now, why was this so important? The Lord explained, That way he will learn to fear the L ORD his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel (Deut. 17:1820 NLT ). But Solomon did not obey the Word of the Lord. Instead, he allowed his prideful ambition to run wild.

Solomon violated every command that God laid out for a king of Israel. Going back to Deuteronomy 17, lets look at verses 1617 ( NIV ): The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the L ORD has told you, You are not to go back that way again. He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. But Solomon did go back to Egypt to accumulate an army of horses and chariots (1 Kings 10:26, 28), because he didnt trust the Lord to protect him (see Isa. 31:12; Ps. 20:7; Jer. 17:56).

Solomon also married many foreign wives (1 Kings 11:13), creating vast alliances with the surrounding kingdoms and making him extremely wealthy. In fact, Solomon admitted that he amassed all this wealth for himself (Eccl. 2:8). Its true that God blessed Solomon, but its also true that Solomon used Gods blessings to fuel his own prideful ambition.

Solomon did not take responsibility for his pride; he did not heed the warnings of his father, David, and the Lord. And in the end, pride led to his despair: Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun (Eccl. 2:11 NIV ). Solomons life is a tragic case study in the effects of pride and disobedience.

As you read this commentary, you will gain greater clarity on the tragic effects of pride, and you will be faced with a personal challenge: Will I take responsibility for my own character flaws by submitting myself to the Word of God? We must all learn from Solomons mistakes and heed these words: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22 NIV ).