Keeping guard over your heart

Why do good people fall away from following and serving God? Not only are the headlines full of accounts of leaders who went bad, the Bible also records such stories. Take the case of Solomon, son of the "man after God's own heart."


He had prayed and asked God for wisdom in order to lead the Jewish people, but eventually he turned away from God. Here's what 1 Kings 11 says:

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.  Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.  So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. (1 Kings 11:9-11)

The same chapter records in greater detail how Solomon had taken wives of the nations that had once been sworn enemies. His wives and concubines did eventually entice him to turn away and follow other gods.


There's an interesting article on the Business Insider website entitled Why Talented Leaders are Driven to Bad Behavior.  After looking at several recent cases of moral failure in leadership, this secular article sums up the problem like this:

Leaders who lose their way are not necessarily bad people; rather, they lose their moral bearings, often yielding to seductions in their paths. Very few people go into leadership roles to cheat or do evil, yet we all have the capacity for actions we deeply regret unless we stay grounded.

Solomon lost his moral bearings, and it was a process. No doubt his many wives influenced him away from the one path that he knew to be correct--the path that God had shown him in His Word. He allowed his heart to be swayed away from what he knew to be truth. Small wonder that Prov. 4:23 offers this advice:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Prov. 4:23)

We need a true north in our lives as leaders. God's Word points us in the direction we should go. But Solomon had God's Word to tell him which way to go. He simply chose not to follow it.  Paul talked about the importance of how we run our race, and shared his secret in 1 Cor. 9:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Father, help me to follow after you with my whole heart. Do not let me turn away or allow my heart to be
corrupted. Teach me to guard it while I listen to you. Amen!