Daily Devotional For Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Hello Southside! It’s Tuesday and I pray that your day is going well so far. We live in a culture where we want to be liked, accepted and affirmed. Parents often get concerned about the power of influence their children’s peers have on them, but we adults are not immune to peer pressure. Our culture does everything to get us to compromise. The Apostle Paul warned us about this. British New Testament scholar J.B. Phillips translated Romans 12:2 this way: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within.”
The Message Translation puts this same section of Romans 12:2 this way, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” The Old Testament records that God caused Solomon to be the wisest man ever. The wisdom God gave him was unparalleled and unmatched by any. God also made him the wealthiest and most powerful man of his day. Some might think that this might go to his head, but it didn’t.
King Solomon had another weakness – women – and lots of them. The Bible records this about King Solomon in 1 Kings 11:3, “He (Solomon) had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away” (NASB). 700 wives and 300 concubines, really? I cannot imagine that, let alone the cost for all the makeup and clothes. Setting humor aside, the Bible also records this sad commentary about King Solomon in 1 Kings 11:4, “For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been” (NASB). Twice the Bible mentions this in two succeeding verses of 1 Kings 11.
One of the things we can learn from the life of Solomon is that the people we allow to influence us really do matter. Sadly, Solomon was led away from God by his pagan wives. I can just imagine those conversations: “Don’t be so narrow minded. Surely you don’t think your God is the only one!” Or: “I don’t want you to stop worshipping your God. Just let me build a little altar to my god, too.” Pagan voices are loud in our culture as well, and if we are not careful, we will be in danger of compromising our faith because of them.
The message is, “You don’t have to deny your faith. Just tone it down and be more open to other religions. They have some good teachings, too.” The pressures to compromise our belief in the one true God are growing and intensifying. Liberal churches water-down the Gospel and the truth of Scripture to reach and keep a younger generation with no concern this compromise might lead their young members straight to hell. Of course, some liberal churches do not believe in a literal hell. God would not be so cruel, unloving, uncompassionate and unmerciful they say.
Lifeway Research, a research division of our own Southern Baptist Convention, cooperated with another ministry organization named Ligonier Ministries. Together, they did a joint research endeavor to once again examine the theological awareness, or lack thereof, of American evangelicals. This time, instead of defining “evangelical” by whether participants identify as such, they used a definition endorsed by the National Association of Evangelicals. Below are the areas where believers have most gone astray in their theology. Here is what they discovered:
- People have the ability to turn to God on their own initiative. 82% Agree
- Individuals must contribute to their own salvation. 74% Agree
- Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God. 71% Agree
- God knows all that happens, but doesn’t determine all that happens. 65% Agree
- The Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being. 56% Agree
- God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 48% Agree
- My good deeds help to earn my place in heaven. 39% Agree
- God will always reward faith with material blessings. 37% Agree
This is alarming of the compromise among those who call themselves “evangelical,” but this is our modern American “Christian” culture (Source: “Our Favorite Heresies,” CT magazine, November 2016, p. 19).
Jesus this in John 8:32, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (NASB). What truth? Biblical truth sets you free! The Internet and social media are distorting truth for the sake of brainwashing minds. This is a ploy of the devil to counterfeit what God says and does and the vulnerable accept it without question. People will say, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” This is a paraphrased quote from 1775 by a man named Samuel Johnson, who originally said, "Sir, hell is paved with good intentions." We are indebted to Samuel Johnson for giving us The Dictionary of the the English Language in 1775.
Let’s never hesitate to declare that the God of the Bible is the only God who is worthy of our worship. Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NIV). In the old days people might say to you, “Watch your back.” Today, we need to say, “Watch your front.” If the wisest man who ever lived can be drawn to compromise, we all are vulnerable also.
Questions To Consider
- As we age, we have a tendency to “mellow with age” due to all kinds of reasons. This may have been what happened to King Solomon, but what really happened to him is that he sinned with compromise.With so much wisdom, why do you think he didn’t see this coming and do a course correction?
- Of your family, friends and peers, who has the greatest influence on you, even to compromise? How do you handle this?
- In which areas of your life are you the most vulnerable to compromise? In what way is this a sin for you? Do you ever repent? If so, what is the proof of that?
- Churches are not immune to compromise. We see this today with hot topics such abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, ant-semitism, biblical inerrancy and more. Have you ever been part of a church that was guilty of the sin of biblical compromise? How did you handle it?
- In the verse below to meditate on, why do you think God called what Solomon did evil? Do you think it was evil? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Kings 11:6, “In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, I believe: Jesus, Your only begotten Son, is my only pathway to reconciliation and redemption to You. Jesus IS the only way, truth, and life—my identity and life is in Him. Lord, help me not to compromise, not to give into any kind of peer pressure, or cultural pressure or political pressure. Help me to stay true to the only Truth, Way and Life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly