Compartments

“Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.””
‭‭II Chronicles‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Compartments

In the time that I have walked with Christ, I have found that I am becoming increasingly sensitive to what I allow into my sensory gates. There are pieces of music I no longer listen to, movies I don’t watch and even media I avoid. Even when I do allow myself to consume something from the past, there is a tension and a lack of enjoyment. It isn’t the same experience, because I am not the same person. This has not been an intentional thing, it has happened naturally as I have grown in my faith.

When I began this walk of faith, I had compartments, places I placed the things in my life that were not holy, things that did not fit in my life as a believer. I finished up the chapters about the life of Solomon, and the paragraph stood out. It was strange because it was preceded by accomplishments and followed by more of the same. But God, for some reason, placed this passage in the bible.

I think it is there as a cautionary note, to remind us of the need to be holy in all parts of our lives. From history, we know that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The “to do” list must have been immense! Solomon had a divided heart, because many of his wives were from different religions and people groups. His heart was drawn away after other gods.

We are in similar danger, as we allow ourselves to assimilate with the world. We take on the views of the secular, we endanger ourselves as we eschew the biblical for the worldly, and suffer the consequences of increasing distance from God.

As I have become more intimate with Jesus, my values have changed. I find that I have become increasingly ruined for this world. When I look at the problems in the society we live in, I see only biblical solutions. All the efforts we try by the flesh and incorporate into solving societal issues fail. They do not address the heart of the matter. We are sinners.

There is a battle living in a compartmented life. I read through Ecclesiastes last week and I could see how that battle was being played out in Solomon’s life as he sought to find the satisfaction in all the temporal pursuits. He literally had all the pleasures of the world, yet it was all empty. In the end, it all came down to this:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Believers, as followers of Christ, we must dissolve the compartments and seek all things holy. Let the Holy Spirit guide your hearts, and change the desires that move you. As I have relinquished my life to Jesus, my life has been flooded with peace and ever increasing joy.

I can’t imagine the walk of Solomon, leaving the holiness of the house of King David for the sin in the house of his Egyptian bride. Egypt is a type for sin for the believer. When we explore the compartments, we are settling for less than the Lord desires for us. We are holy as the Spirit of God dwells in us. We must not embrace the profane for we are holy.

Time to tear down the compartments and let the Lord in!

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