Choose Advisors with Care
When king Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam assumes the throne over all of Israel, following his father, Solomon, and grandfather David. A delegation comes to him and asks him to lighten their load, to decrease the burden placed on them by his father.
Rehoboam doesn’t answer them right away. Instead, he seeks wise counsel.
Rehoboam first consults with his father’s advisors, who had faithfully served Solomon during his reign. They recommend he do as the delegation requested. Then the people would follow him as king and serve him.
Rehoboam doesn’t like their advice and chooses not to follow it.
Instead, he asks his friends, his buddies who he grew up with, to see what they would say. They give him the opposite answer. They tell him to make a bold statement of power, that he will demand much more than his father ever did.
From a human perspective they may have said this because they saw he already rejected the wise counsel of his father’s advisers. Or it could be they told him what they knew he wanted to hear. Or perhaps they were arrogant and out of touch with the people’s outlook.
But we’ll later learn that God brought about the bad advice from Rehoboam’s friends to accomplish his objective.
Rehoboam foolishly follows his friends’ advice. Most of the nation rejects him as their king, leaving him only the tribe of Judah to govern.
Today’s Lesson
When faced with important decisions or confronted with dilemmas that elude us, we’re wise to seek wise counsel from trusted advisors. Then we should follow it. To do anything else would be folly.
I often have people ask me for advice. I’m happy to share my opinion or impart what God has revealed to me. Most receive my words gladly, but for a few their eyes go glassy, and they stop listening.
For these folks, their minds were already made-up. They knew what they wanted to do and hoped I’d tell them what they wanted to hear. They didn’t seek wise counsel from me. Instead, they hoped I’d confirm what they were going to do anyway as being the best choice.
It is good for us to seek wise counsel whenever we need advice. But it’s even better to follow the wise advice we receive.
This is why it’s important that we choose our advisors with care, selecting godly counselors who will tell us our Lord’s truth and nothing else.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Kings 12-14 and today’s post is on 1 Kings 12:8.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
