After God's Own Heart: Walking in Faith

Introduction

Karl Marx, the father of modern communism, has been credited to have said, "a people without a heritage are easily persuaded." I personally find that to be very true. We see this politically and socially, but worse we see it in our faith. With each generation we see a weaker emphasis on passing on a heritage or legacy of Faith. That is teaching them the gospel but also all other things biblical, thereby infusing the next generation with a biblical worldview (expand).

Teaching our children to be faithful to God doesn't mean they always will as adults, however as a parent, teacher or mentor you have done all you can do to pass on a legacy of faith! David, a man after God’s own heart, had his ups and downs, but overall he always keep his eyes and heart on God. David now near death wants to give a charge to his Son Solomon to follow after God, especially as he will serve as King. ,

1 When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the

David gives three charges Solomon with three basic rules to live by as a servant of God,

“Be Strong, act like a man”

We don't know the exact age of Solomon when he took the throne but we know he was young and would be perceived as too young to rule. So David told Solomon essentially to man up because your going to be challenged, your going to be tempted and your going to have to make difficult decisions. More importantly Solomon needs to maturely observe what God wants! Well, so do we…

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

Forgive me for getting on my soapbox but I have little tolerance for Christians who think our faith in Christ takes a back seat to the views of the world. We are commanded to spread the truth of Jesus in grace and love but that doesn't mean you back down because society says talking about Jesus inst PC.

Guess what. . . Jesus will never be PC, the bible will never be PC…truth will never be PC. Nevertheless we need to pull up our big boy or big girl pants up and go to work for Jesus.

“Walk in obedience”

David knew the mistakes he made and saw what the consequences were. He also knew that he had to emphasize this to Solomon because the blessings promised by God would be conditional upon how faithful they were. If a descendant of David was faithful he would be blessed if not he would lose his blessing. This brings us back to a NT that sums up our responsibility to respond, Jesus told us ()

15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

What made David righteous and Saul unrighteous, was their obedience. What will make Solomon a great King is wither he obeys, and what proves our faith is obedience. The Apostle John tells us (1 John 2:17)

The New International Version Chapter 2

17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

If you belong to Christ, obedience is not an option its an expectation. We are saved by grace through faith but as Paul and James tells us our faith and our repentance are confirmed through our obedience to God. The law cannot save but we are still expected to follow the commands of God as best as possible letting the Holy Spirit lead us. David knew this and so passed it on to Solomon.

“Walk Faithfully”

David knew that for his son and descendants to receive God’s blessing they had to walk faithfully after God! Solomon for most of his life did, but Solomon simular to his father had a problem with lust. He accumulated many foreign wives (from countries God forbid the Israelites from marring) and when he got older they were able to sway him into mixing his faith in Yahweh the one true God with false gods. God told him he wold would not lose his Kingdom but his son would lose half of the kingdom.

Whether Solomon repented of his actions is up for debate on whether you think Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes not. Either way the lesson is powerful here, God expects us o be faithful and obedient and when we are not his blessing can certainly go away.

As Christians we are saved by faith and maintained by faith. To walk by faith is the definition of our life in Christ.

Conclusion

Some of you may be wondering why am I emphasizing passing on a legacy of faith when Solomon and many descendants did not take the advise. Is it a waste of time? No! We are responsible for teaching the next generation about God and the Gospel. Whether they follow that path is out of our hands, but truth is truth and it must be taught and encouraged.

David has been our example for several weeks. David has shown us that trust is the most essential element to overcoming the challenges in our life. David taught us that justice belongs to God, and mercy and forgiveness is our responsibility. David taught us that when we fall, no matter how far, we can repent and follow God again. David taught us that our faith is a legacy that must be passed on.

David was a Shepard, warrior, King, poet, but most importantly he was a man after God’s own heart - trusting, obeying, overcoming and humble enough to repent. Let us thank God that we have examples like David, a hero of the faith, to learn from so that we too can be a man or woman after God’s own heat.