High Places

³ And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. 1 Kings 3:3
High places were Idol worship alters throughout the land of Israel. The jews would use this alters to sacrifice and incense to God. Patriarchs also had resurrected alters to for sacrifice as we read in Genesis. However, these High places were mainly associated with pagan worship. In Deuteronomy, God forbids explicitly not to use these high places for sacrifice. David has passed away, and Soloman is the new King, and as we read, it says he was walking in the statutes of his Father EXCEPT. He was not wholly obedient like David and today I ask you, what is the except in your life? What are the high places that you are still sacrificing to? Yes, we are saved by GRACE, but our walk has to match our faith. So many of us are hindering our growth because we refuse to obey God completely. We follow the bible, but there is always an EXCEPT. We need to deal with that HIGH PLACE where we are allowing the world to hinder our spiritual growth. The high places became a hindrance to Soloman, as wise as he was; he built many high places to pagan gods and also sacrificed to those gods. Solomon is called the wisest fool in the Bible, Although he walked with God, he could not give up the women, and that led him to Pagan worship. When we don’t remove the SIN in our life altogether, it has a way of coming back to haunt us. Solomon did not have the heart of David, which was completely surrendered to God. In Psalm 139, David says “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Today as you partake in communion, search your heart and see if there are any EXCEPTs in your life that need to be dealt with. Let us remove any HIGH Places that are stumbling blocks in our walk with Christ. Have a blessed worship time. Amen.