1 Kings 11-12; Proverbs 1:1-7

Monday's Bible Reading: 1 Kings 11-12; Proverbs 1:1-7

Well, what a depressing way to begin the day . . .

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign wives. . . . They were from the nations about which the Lord had told the Isaelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord . . . (1 Kings 11:1-6).

If the smartest man who ever lived didn't know enough to guard his heart (even though he advised others to do it—Proverbs 4:23), it's not surprising that so many of the rest of us fail in this area.

I wrote a devotional on this subject titled "Brains Are Not Enough." It's the ODB article for 10 July 2006. I'll post a link to it when it's available online.