While King Solomon stood before the people before the newly dedicated temple, he prayed for several scenarios in which they would need to pray before the temple of God’s presence. “When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You” (1 Kings 8:33). This scenario of defeat will tell the people they have sinned and they’ll need to confess it to get God’s wisdom and strength for victory again. When they humble themselves and seek the Lord, order will be restored and the Lord will once again lead the way.
Did you know the idea of cause and effect works in the NT as well? The OT idea of consequences for obedience and disobedience transfer to the NT. Paul told the Corinthian church that their squabbling among themselves was due to following the flesh and not the Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 3:3-4).
Paul also told them that many of their church members had died because they failed to respect what the Lord’s supper was all about (11:27-30). We suffer consequences for following the flesh regarding the things of the Lord.
Galatians 5:19-21 gives us the disastrous consequences of following the promptings of the flesh, which is really disobedience to the Spirit of Christ. Immorality, idolatry, jealousy, outbursts of anger, envy, drunkenness, and more are the results of disobedience, just as in Solomon’s prayer, where defeat in a battle against the flesh comes from being far from the Lord.
But obeying the leading of the Spirit results in a dramatically blessed life, as we see in Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and more mark the one who is winning the battles against temptation. When we deliberately choose the Lord’s way over our own, He lends power to the weak.
When we detect the consequences of the flesh, we know that we have not been obeying the Lord. At that point, we repent, confess our sin, and return to Him for forgiveness and more training in obedience.
We enter this training for obedience when we ponder the Word of God to see how the Lord wants to change our lives. Then we put it into practice by faith in Him, trusting in His help. Day by day we seek His will in the Scriptures, chapter by chapter in order. In this way, Jesus is Lord and not us, our feelings, our preferences, or our culture. We obey Him by following the Word, and we get the blessings that result.
Solomon prayed that the people would recognize the signs of a life that has turned away from God. They can get the victory against the enemy, and so can we. Let the Word show you your shortcomings–don’t figure it out for yourselves. If you put the Word first, the Spirit is Lord. If you put your thoughts and will first, the flesh is lord. Which will you obey?
God’s remedy for His people has not changed. Solomon finished the prayer that began this article: “If they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray, … then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel” (1 Kings 8:33-34). Humility and returning to the Lord is still the pathway of renewal toward a thriving relationship with God.
