Sweden Church
  • Home
  • Listen
    • Sunday Services
    • Real Time >
      • But God...
      • Incompatible With Life
      • Heroes of Faith
      • Matthew 9 Series
      • Where We Find Jesus Series
      • Temptations of Christ Series
      • Sermon on the Mount Series
      • Prodigal Son Series
    • Revival 2022
    • Sweden Celebration 2020
    • Revival 2019
  • Sermon Series
    • Revelation Series
    • One Thing Series
    • Deuteronomy Series
    • 1 & 2 Kings Series
    • Titus Series
    • Jonah Series
    • What Kind of Man Series
    • Advent 2019
    • Ten Commandments Series
    • "No More" Sermon Series
  • Pictures
  • Our Blogs
    • The Pastor's Pen
    • The Layman's Pen
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us

The Layman's Pen

1/20/2013

 
    “Your companions are like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or they will take you down.” (from God’s Little Instruction Book, Honor Books, Inc., 1993)  Proverbs 13:20 says it more bluntly, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” It’s pretty good advice. Rehoboam learned this lesson the hard way.

    The story takes place in I Kings 12 and II Chronicles 10. At the end of Solomon’s reign he had been excessive and had put a heavy burden on the people. The heavy burden was a forced labor policy. Enforcing the labor policy was a matter of having ‘overseers’ use whips on the people. When the people asked Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son and successor, to have the forced labor end, he made a political mistake. Rather than listening to the advice of some moderate counselors, he listened to his younger hot-headed buddies. Rehoboam’s reply was that, instead of whips, he would use scorpions to force their labor. A ‘scorpion’ is a kind of leather pouch filled with sand and studded with metal spikes attached to the end of a whip. This sparked a rebellion and Israel split over it.

    Not only is Psalms 1 a good guide to follow in making choices, it is also a reminder of what happens to those who fail to choose their associates wisely. Verse 1 is three don’t: Avoid the ungodly, ones who have no reverence for God. Don’t keep company with those who do wrong. Sinfulness is like a virus, it spreads to others. Don’t join in with mockers. They have no concern for their fellowman. Their end is not pretty. Verse 4 states they are worthless and will be condemned at the time of judgment.

Rehoboam is an example of what not to do. The sad thing is that he had a chance to do otherwise. There were others he could have consulted. They were there. He made a choice and showed who he really was.


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2015
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012