Here we go...

This past Sunday morning we finished up our Summer curriculum for Sunday School. We, the Middle School students, closed out the Summer talking about King Solomon. We looked quite intently at the end of his life. Though he began doing great things for God, later in his life he fell into utter ruin.

King Solomon was lead astray in his heart! He had multiple foreign wives (exactly what God warned not to have in Duet. 7 & 17) who turned his heart to false gods - IDOLS! He made a Great Exchange! He exchanged God for things that were not God; he exchanged the greater for the lesser. Because of this Great Exchange there were consequences. God stripped the Kingdom from Solomon. All that Solomon was, all that he did would come to naught. He would become but a memory. Yet, because of God's covenant/promise to David, God gave a small part of the Kingdom to one of Solomon's sons. God is faithful even in the midst of our disobedience and waywardness.

This was a great place to end the Summer. We noted that we are not all too different from King Solomon. We too are lead astray in our hearts. We too are idolatrous. We too have made a Great Exchange! All the time we exchange the greater for the lesser; God for what is not God. We exchange God for friends, God for sports, God for fashion or technology. Thus, we are much like King Solomon - utterly ruined.

So, as Summer comes to an end we see ourselves as like Solomon at the end of his life - failures.

But, we begin this new semester with Hope! We have hope because God is faithful even in the midst of our failures and disobedience. Though we have made a Great Exchange by exchanging God for idols, another Great Exchange has taken place. Christ has come and Exchanged His life for ours. He offers us an even Greater Exchange than the one we daily make; he offers life for death; righteousness for sin; hope for despair. This is the great faithfulness, love and mercy of God! For He is the Son of David who now sits on the eternal throne who has not failed but fulfilled all that God has commanded. He is our hope! He is our Great Exchange!

So, here we go!

This semester we, the Middle School students, will be looking at the divided Kingdom. We will still see some failure, but we will also see God's faithfulness and sovereign workings pointing us to hope in Christ. It's going to be a wonderful time!

For His Kingdom...