It's interesting to me that God made Jeroboam king, He promised he would be as great as David, and all Jeroboam had to do was just do whatever the Lord commanded. He was to "walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands" and God would be with him. God said He would, "...build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you." WOW! Seemed easy enough to a casual observer.
What was his downfall? What caused Jeroboam to fall from God's plan for his life? He took matters into his own hands. Even though God said His people were to worship in Jerusalem, Jeroboam thought he had a better plan. The truth was that he didn't have enough faith to believe that God would protect him and keep the people loyal to the king. His second downfall was to seek counsel from men instead of God. The outcome was everything was taken from him.
How do we apply this to our lives? Churches today have left the promises of God. They have sought the advice of marketing firms and model churches. What they fail to do is rely on the power and promises of God to grow their churches. They trade the spirit of God for the spirit of performance. They trade the Bible and it's promises for books on "How To Do It."
I like what Jim Cymbala says, "No attendance numbers can hide the fact that our new kind of Christianity is foreign to the Bible and grievous to the Holy Spirit. All over America, church-goers chafe at a Sunday morning service that runs an hour and ten minutes, but have no problem with three-hour football games on television. He goes on to state that there are many Jeroboam religions and churches out there that have no clue as to what true, Spirit-filled churches look like."
Are you a Jeroboam?
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Experiencing Worship, The Study