THE REHOBOAM SYNDROME

I was discussing with a senior minister of the Gospel recently. I told him about a missionary who received a very huge support from an American church.

When I mentioned the amount, the senior minister was surprised and he said to me, 'If you receive that amount of money, you will not go to the mission field again'. Quickly, I responded saying 'No".

However, I had a rethink to check my heart. What will happen when I begin to swim in abundance? Will I still go around preaching in rural places? Am I sure comfort won't make me serve God in my own way instead of His own way?

It is possible remodel ministry to suit oneself because of change in status. One will still appear to the public as 'minister of the Gospel' but as far as God is concerned, the register is reading 'backsliden'.

There are things I've observed over the years among some believers. I have seen cases of those who burned for the Lord when they were seeking for something but they backslid when they got it.

As a church boy, while growing up, I saw people who burned for the Lord especially singles but their fire burnt out after they married or got their desired jobs. Some persons carried a fire that could burn hell while on campus but are nowhere to be found in the divine scheme of things.

Our opening text described a king who forsook the ways of God after he was established on the throne. If he was not following the ways of God, the bible wouldn't have said he forsook God's ways.

It is plausible that he was zealous and vibrant when he was an ordinary man but he lost touch with heaven immediately he became comfortable. That is one of the dangers in time of peace.

Some believers are like Rehoboam who forsook the ways of God after their major breakthrough landed. Some prayed, fasted and had serious devotional life but the moment they got to their palace in life, they forsook God.

It is a dangerous thing to forsake God's ways because of comfort. The Psalmist says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."(Psalm9:17).

Now that your status has changed and God has lifted you, this is not the time to relegate God and his ways to the dustbin. The trap of gradual backsliding is common to those with enviable growth and progress but it may not be visible because the glitz and glamour of a new status may hinder us from seeing properly.

Now that you have a car, can you still join the brethren on door-to-door evangelism on foot? If the things you held dear in your walk with God are now a thing of the past because of your new status, you're no different from Rehoboam.

God want us to always burn with the fire of our first love. Hear the words of Jesus, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent"( Rev2:4-5).