Solomon loved the Lord and followed
all the instructions of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered
sacrifices and burned incense at the local altars. 1 Kings 3:3 NLT
Separately, the ingredients would be distasteful,
but together, they are sumptuous.
Of all the types of cakes my wife cooks, pound
cake is my favorite. She invests hours to make sure it turns out just right,
blending various ingredients together at certain points rather than all
together at once.
Eggs, milk, flour, butter, sugar, baking powder,
and flavoring. But of all the ingredients, milk is the only one I would consume
by itself. Eggs would have to be cooked, flour and butter would have to be
basted, and sugar and flavoring would have to be added to something else.
Secularism is the attempt to separate government
and those who represent it from religion and religious institutions. We might
term it separation of church and state, but it’s an attempt to compartmentalize
life.
King Solomon went to the other extreme. He
worshipped God but also at the local altars, which means he pandered after the
local gods. Many people thought this was necessary for their crops and families
to produce abundantly. Later, Solomon would even marry unbelieving women from
other nations to form political alliances.
Neither secularism in the present nor King
Solomon in the past got it right. The Bible speaks of separation and
conjoining. If I compartmentalize my life, I miss what God wants me to do. I
won’t be a light shining into a sin-darkened world, but neither will I believe
my secular life has any bearing on my worship of God.
God’s overarching purpose is to blend the various
ingredients of our lives to form us into His Son’s image. God created us in his
image—an image, albeit, that sin has wrecked. Through forgiveness of our sins
and submissiveness on our part to His plan, God blends our lives’ religious and
secular ingredients to make us little Christs. While we don’t melt into or
become Christ—as butter does into the other cake ingredients--we should become
like Him in word, action, and thought.
If you have been guilty of trying to separate
your life’s secular and religious ingredients, blend them to produce a tasteful
lifestyle that will impact others for Christ.
Father, help me understand that my walk with you
relates to and should impact every area of my life.
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