05/01/2019
SOLOMON (taken from Maxwell Leadership Bible)
It Is More Blessed to Follow Good Advice Than to Give It
Proverbs 5:3–21
It doesn’t take a leader very long to realize that it’s easier to give good advice than to follow it. Solomon proves the point.
This wisest of kings didn’t hold back when it came to warning his people against adultery. He tells us repeatedly and with great conviction that only fools fall into adultery. Perhaps he spoke so forcefully after pondering the fate of his own father, David, who brought on himself no end of trouble through his illicit affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 12:10). Solomon therefore counseled other men to stay at home and find contentment “with the wife of your youth” (Prov. 5:18). The king knew very well the spiritual issues at stake in marriage, for he declares, “The ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths” (5:21).
And yet, somehow, this same leader failed to heed God’s explicit warning against kings taking many wives (Deut. 17:17). Solomon blatantly disobeyed this command and married seven hundred women. The result? “His wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God” (1 Kin. 11:4).
Wise leaders not only give good advice; they heed it. How different the fortunes of Israel might have turned out had Solomon acted on the wisdom he so forcefully expressed to others!