1st Kings chapter 13. This chapter gives three examples of three different types of people walking in disobedience to the Lord. They started strong but finished poorly.
1. King Jeroboam started strong but finished poorly. God called him to be king and he gave the impression that he would be a great spiritual leader. But when fear and the desire for power captivated him, he ended up living in sin and even misguiding his people to walk away from the Lord. When God caused his hand to shrivel, even then he was more concerned about having a healed physical hand rather than being healed spiritually with repentance.
It's like a friend of mine who was in prison for over a year. I would speak to him once a week on the phone and he was in the Word and in the prison fellowship and had all these dreams and aspirations of how he was going to serve the Lord in church faithfully when he got out of prison. It was less than a month after getting out of prison that he already returned to a life without the Lord.
2. The Man of God.
The man of God also started out strong but finished poorly. He was faithful to speak words against the king who could have killed him. But he failed to stand strong with the words God spoke to him when another so-called prophet misguided him. Sometimes we are the strongest spiritually when we are around the worst people. But when someone we love and care about says things that tempt us away from the Lord, we give in because we don't want that relationship to be hindered. So we compromise our faith.
3. The old prophet.
It's hard to tell, because it doesn't say, I‘m assuming the old prophet apparently had been used by God in the past. But now in his old age, he apparently felt the need to convey himself as a great follower of God, but in doing so, misled another man of God. He knew he was in the wrong and he still spoke with deception. Perhaps he too started strong and did many things for the Lord, but now his words are no longer glorifying God. He Started Strong but Finished Poorly.
The question I have to ask myself is, is my life and words helping lead people to the Lord or away from the Lord? Am I going to finish strong or be easily captivated by the things of this world? Am I going to walk in obedience or disobedience to the Lord?
As I thought about the people in chapter 13 today, I thought about the explanation of the parable of the sower from Matthew 13:18-23.
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the Word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Only the seed that was sown in good soil was able to produce the good fruit. The other three had bad results. We hear of those who may start strong, but finish poorly. They lack endurance and perseverance.
I was also reminded of James 1:22-25.
“But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
One more passage that I want to share is Hebrews 12:1-2.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
May we look to Jesus as our perfect example in running with endurance and persevere as doers of the Word.
In today’s reading, the man of God was deceived by the old prophet who had remained living in a place of sin. The man of God didn’t turn to God once more to ask about the discrepancy between God’s message to him and the supposed message from an angel to the old prophet. This error results in the man of God’s death by a lion. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
I pray that we as believers remember to put on the armor of God daily, stay in the Word, and be alert to the devil’s deception.