Day Three Hundred Eighteen “Compromise”

            If compromise didn’t exist, agreements would never by attained between people of diverse opinions.  The Great Compromise of 1787 is one example of bridging a gap between two different viewpoints.  The government of a free nation was being formed when a disagreement arose between the smaller states, who sought equal representation, and larger states, who demanded representation based on population.  After months of debate, a compromise was forged and the legislative branch was split into two entities, the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Compromise in a marriage, in business dealings, or in national diplomacy can be very successful, but when it comes to our spiritual relationship with God, when the proper course of action is clearly defined in God’s Word, compromise can be dangerous and deadly.

            The Lord loved Solomon and would shower David’s heir with wealth, wisdom, honor, and authority far beyond that of any king before, or monarch to follow.  Solomon would reign in relative peace, during a time of unprecedented commerce with neighboring nations, and in a time when the glorious, completed Temple would centralize the national worship of Jehovah God.  But when Solomon was at the zenith of his reign, exceeding his father in achievement, he would fall to compromise.

            “And if thou wilt walk before me…in integrity of heart…I will establish thy throne…But if ye shall turn from following me…Then will I cut thee off.”  King Solomon, in his wisdom, understood the clear-cut commands of the Lord.  He understood that a king “shall not multiply horses to himself…neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”  Solomon would do both, but the most grievous compromise was yet to come, for “Solomon loved many strange women…and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines” in direct defiance of God’s command not to “multiply wives unto himself.”  These women would turn “away his heart after other gods.” 

This wisest of kings would compromise the Word of God to the extent that his epithet would read: “For Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” He compromised his walk with the true God on the altar of his lusts, and the sin that he sowed would be reaped by Rehoboam, his son, resulting in a fractured kingdom and a nation on the path to idolatry.

Keep your guard up against compromise.  If the wisest of kings could succumb to its deceitfulness, so can we.

James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Lord, help me to steer clear of any type of compromise in my walk with You.

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