Day 100: 1 Kings 13, 14 and 15

King Rehoboam made bronze shields. (1 Kings 14:27)

Egypt’s Shishak invaded Judah and carried off the treasures of palace and temple. This was most likely when the Ark of the Covenant was lost, yet the writer of 1 Kings doesn't even mention it – instead the account focuses on the loss of Solomon's gold shields. It would seem then, that the shields are a very important part of this story.

We just read 1 Kings 10:16-17 about Solomon having the shields made from hammered gold. Once they were stolen by Egypt, the once wealthy nation of Judah could no longer afford the gold to replace them, so Rehoboam had copies made from bronze.

Every Sabbath, as Rehoboam made his way to the Temple, his Secret Service agents equipped with those bronze shields surrounded him. I imagine, as the sun shone down on that bronze, it must have dazzled the eyes of anyone looking –  maybe even giving the appearance of real gold – but it wasn’t.

After church the guards would put the shields away, locked in a cabinet where they would stay until the next Sabbath for their weekly parade to Temple.

You probably know where I'm going with this. It's easy to play dress up on the weekend. Some people head for church wearing their shiny best. They look the part, but there's no authentic relationship with God. Others fear what might happen if they were to be transparent.

Are you authentic gold? …or wannabe bronze?