Who Is on Jehovah's Side? - DO NOT BE FOOLED

 When Solomon was young, he had a good relationship with Jehovah. God made Solomon very wise and gave him the important task of building a beautiful temple in Jerusalem.  But Solomon  lost his friendship with Jehovah. (1 Kings 3:12; 11:1, 2) God's Law stated that the king should not take "many wives for himself, so that his heart may not go astray." (Deuteronomy 17:17)   Solomon disobeyed this law.  Eventually, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines!  (1 Kings 11:3)  Many of these women were foreigners who worshipped false gods. So Solomon disobeyed God's law against marrying foreign women. - DEUTERONOMY 7:3, 4.

Little by little, Solomon lost his love for Jehovah's laws. Eventually, he did really bad things. He built altars to the false goddess Ashtoreth and the god Chemosh, and then he worshipped these false god with his wives. Solomon even built these altars  on a mountain just in front of the Jerusalem, where had built Jehovah's temple!  (1 Kings 11:5-8; 2 Kings 23:13)  Perhaps Solomon fooled himself into thinking that Jehovah would ignore all the bad things he did as long as he offered sacrifices at the temple.

But Jehovah never ignores sin.  The Bible says: "Jehovah became furious at Solomon, because his heart had inclined away from Jehovah."  God had tried to help Solomon. Jehovah "had appeared to him twice and had warned him about this very thing, that he should not go after other gods.  But he did not obey what Jehovah had commanded."  As a result, he lost God's approval and support.  Jehovah did not allow Solomon's descendants to rule over the entire nation of Israel, and the had terrible problems for hundreds of years. - 1 KINGS 11:9-13.

If we choose friends who do not understand or respect God's standards, they could influence our thinking and harm our friendship with Jehovah.  They may be part of the congregation, but they do  not have a strong relationship with Jehovah.  Or they could be relatives, neighbors, workmates, or schoolmates who do not worship Jehovah.  If the people we spend time with do not live by Jehovah's standards, they can influence us so  much that we could lose our good relationship with God.

Read 1 Corinthians 5:33.  Most people have some good qualities. And those who do not worship Jehovah may not always do bad things.  Maybe you know some people like that.  Does this mean they are good associations? Well, how do they affect your relationship with Jehovah?  Do they help you draw closer to God?  What is truly important to these people?   What do they talk about?  Do they mainly talk about fashion, money, gadgets, entertainment, and such things?  Are they often critical of others?  Do they like to tell dirty jokes?  Jesus warned:  "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34)  If you realize that the people you spend time with are harming your relationship with Jehovah, take action! Limit the amount of time you are with them, and if necessary, end the friendship. - PROVERBS 13:20.

Next time: Who Is on Jehovah's Side? - JEHOVAH REQUIRES US TO BE LOYAL TO HIM

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