Upright But Not Sinless

1 Kings 9:4 ⁴ “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,

Sometimes we get the impression that we have to be perfect in order to have a relationship with the LORD. We remember the list of commandments and laws and we know we can’t keep them continuously, so we know we aren’t perfect.
Or maybe we dismiss the lists and assign them to an ancient past, to a people who weren’t as educated or sophisticated as we are, and therefore irrelevant to our lives today. But then we don’t even live by our own internal rights and wrongs.
But in the process we forget that part of the provisions in the Law dealt with a remedy for sin. The sacrificial system was about dealing with the reality of sin in our world. It had to be face head on. We couldn’t hide from it. We had to deal with it as part of the religious calendar. Sin was always sin.
And sin was a problem that the LORD provided a way to resolve. The first thing the LORD was wanting from His people was faithfulness. He wanted us to live with integrity of heart and uprightness. He wanted us to keep our heart tuned to His frequency. And when we drifted away, to come back and use the provided ways of return.
The LORD knew we would fail. And He knew He would provide a means to return and be restored. He wants us to acknowledge that fact. We sin and the LORD provides a way for us to return. It is only when this fact is ignored that the people of God got themselves in trouble.
King Solomon was a person who had all the benefits of privilege and position. He lacked no advantage that anyone would stay today ensured good behavior. But even with all these advantages, Solomon didn’t live it out. He failed the uprightness test. He knew how he was supposed to live, but he didn’t live that way. He did all the things he wasn’t supposed to do.
Privilege and position aren’t enough to ensure simple obedience. It has been said that Christians don’t lack the knowledge of what they are supposed to do, they lack the willingness to do it. We know that the LORD has provided a way for us to return to fellowship with Him, but we don’t come in repentance. We stubbornly refuse the way of the Cross.
At this time in our calendar, this holy week when we remember Jesus death and resurrection, may we focus on the Way Jesus provided for us to return to fellowship with the LORD. May we focus on the way we are to live so that the world may know that He is worthy of our praise and our obedience. He provided for our journey, are we willing to live with His provision?