1 Kings 11:1

1 Kings 11:1 says, But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:  Solomon may have been wise and rich, he may have built a Temple for God, but he did not follow God's law concerning marriage.  He loved and married many foreign women starting with the daughter of Pharoah.  We may be a follower of Christ and yet allow some sinful action into our life, but we can never be content to allow it to stay, much less grow.  Verse two adds, Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.  Slomon loved these women in spite of God's warning to the people of Israel not to marry women of other nations, because these women would lead them away from God.  We have the same warning as Christians today.  Verse three continues, And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.  Solomon not only disobeyed God's design for marriage and his warning about marrying women of other nations, but he also completely obliterated it, having seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.  Once we allow a sin into our lives as Christians, we should not be surprised if it begins to multiply.  These women turned Solomon's heart away from God, just as any sinful desire will do to us today.  Verse four states, For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.  When Solomon was old and had allowed his wives and concubines to turn his heart away from God and to other gods, his heart was no longer perfect with God as his father David's had been.  I believe the difference was that even though David sinned as well, he never followed after other gods.  I don't believe that we can really be a Christian and follow after other gods as well.  If we begin to do so, then I would have to question the reality of our faith in Jesus Christ to start with, since as Christians we should know that He is the only way to salvation, and we are to worship no one nor anything else.  Verse five adds, For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.  Two of the gods Solomon began to worship were Ashtoreth, the goddess of fertility, and Milcom, the chief god of the Ammonites who was called the abomination of the Ammonites.  We can be certain that any god we follow other than the one true and living God will be an abomination.  Verse six continues, And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.  Solomon may have been given great wisdom by God, but he did not continue to use it throughout his life by being led to follow other gods and doing evil in God's sight.  We have been given enough wisdom to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and if we don't, then we are doing evil in God's sight.  Verse seven declares, Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.  Solomon may have built a beautiful Temple for God, but he was now building places of worship for other gods.  They were both called abominations.  We cannot worship God and any other god at the same time, and if we allow anything to become more important to us than God, then that is what we are doing.  Verse eight adds, And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.  Not only did Solomon worship these false gods, but his foreign wives did as well.  If a Christian marries a non-Christian, too often the Christian is led to follow the gods of the spouse, and this should never be.