No Shortcuts

 

 "Therefore, the king asked advice, made the calves of gold, and said to the people, 'it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you from the land of Egypt!' (I Kings 12:28).

Israel had divided into two, the northern and the southern kingdom.  Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom feared that if the people went to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, their hears might be drawn back to their southern brethren.  Therefore, he made a new altar for the people to worship at so they wouldn't have to go to Jerusalem.

Notice how he appealed to the people? He told them that going to Jerusalem was too much of a hassle...to inconvenient to go such a long way.  He told them to stay up north, that it was easier. There was an altar and a temple there.  Sadly, the people listened.

Part of the appeal of Jeroboam was to make religion convenient and easy.  Do you realize that a solid walk with the Lord is not always easy?  Spiritual disciplines are not always easy.  There are no shortcuts to spending time in the Word and in prayer...you just need to do it.  Our busy lives at times makes it inconvenient to get to church on Sunday or midweek.

Our flesh will always be lured by the call of Jeroboam...'it's too much of a hassle'....'let's not listen'.  A theologian coined the phrase "easy believism".  His point was in reality there is no such thing.  The flesh will always look for the easy, convenient shortcut, but there is none if we long for a vibrant walk with Jesus.  Let's set our hearts to be disciplined in the Word, prayer and fellowship!