A great king died. He had a promise of the perpetuity of his kingdom if his children adhered to certain standards and instructions. His father was a king so he wasn’t a stranger to those kinds of requirements. I guess his children were aware of the requirements too.
Then, his son became king. His subjects were willing to give their loyalty to him. They will pledge allegiance to him if he made them a promise – that he would evolve policies that could ameliorate suffering for them.
The wise men of the kingdom counseled the king to oblige them. However, he wasn’t willing to go with their advice. He must have thought that they were ‘old school’! He turned to the new generation – people about his age. Smart but ill-advised move.
When King Rehoboam listened to the young men that grew up with him to provoke a whole nation to revolt against his leadership and the dynasty of David, the destiny of even unborn generations was hinged on that single decision that may have been expressed with considerable fun.
We behave like that king when we depend on the opinions of others to craft the pattern of our relationship with God. These others may be ungodly or syncretic family members and friends, ungodly or backslidden social media influencers and enthusiasts, people who have little or nothing to do with God, people who have left God a long time ago, or even Church ‘drop-outs’.
If we want to be saved, we have to understand the way of salvation as expressed in God’s Word – the Bible, not relying on the jaundiced opinions of other people. When we rely on a defective opinion to build our spiritual life, there could be grave spiritual consequences like what happened to Rehoboam.
To be saved
1. You need to come to the realisation that you are a sinner on your way to destruction
2. You need salvation and salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ
3. Come to God in humility, confessing your sins to Him and asking for His forgiveness
4. Invite Jesus into your heart to become your Lord and personal Saviour