In 1 Kings 12, we read about Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. After Solomon died, he became king of the southern kingdom after the nation was torn apart because of Solomon’s sin (1 Kings 1:43). Rehoboam was faced with a request when he first became king. The people wanted their workload lightened, and they promised to serve him. King Rehoboam started wise (he had a great example of this in his father 1 Kings 3:5-14). He needed to answer their request more quickly. He said, “Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed” (1 Kings 12: 5). He sought advice from the old men who had stood with his father. They said to do what they asked, and they would be their servants forever, but Rehoboam didn’t like that answer. He asked his peers, and they said make their work harder. Oh, how Rehoboam liked that answer. The people came back after three days, and he gave them his answer – “And the king answered the people roughly and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” (1 Kings 12:13-14).

Rehoboam probably thought he had done the right thing, at least in his own eyes. But we are warned, “Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:7). Sometimes we receive advice that we think is great. Still, later, we realized it could be better. What has worked for others only sometimes works for us. I have been a preacher for over 25 years, but before we married, I received lots of advice. I was told about the “glass house,” how to be prepared for impromptu guests, have extra food on hand, keep your house tidy, late nights and early mornings, how to handle loneliness, be ready to move a lot, and don’t get too close to members (it saves heartache if indeed you move). I set out doing everything they had said. I got caught up trying to be what they were and needed to remember who I was.

Listening to the advice of others may sound reasonable at first, but we must remember that fallible people cannot give infallible advice! While their intentions may be good, they may not be the best course of wisdom. We need to first listen to the wisdom of God.

As a minister, God has advised me, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching… But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2, 5).

As a husband and father, I have this advice from the Lord, “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself…And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 5:28; 6:3).

As a church member, I have this warning about how to live, “I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:15, 16).

While seeking advice and wisdom from our peers can be a valuable experience, we must never forget, “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:20, 21).

By: Justin Odom