1 Kings 2

1Ki 2:37
"For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head."

My blood shall be on my own head. I found this sentence interesting. It is telling me that I am to be held accountable for whatever happened to me.

That day I took a cab to church. It cost me 12bucks!! But I hope it was well worth it. The cab auntie started chatting with me on religions and beliefs. And her stand was that she was got to see it, in order to believe in it. Like how she saw her brother's spirit, not just once, but two times. She told me that she has got no feeling while she attended church in her younger days. And she also asked me the most important question. She commented, "If your God is so powerful, so loving, why can't He make everyone turn towards Him and worship Him?"

I told her that precisely God loves us, so He wouldn't compel us to do what we are not willing. He wants us to turn towards Him, on our own accord. He wouldn't want robots. Most importantly, we have to open our hearts to Him.

And then as I read to this portion of 1 Kings 2 when King Soloman was instructing Shimei, I can't help but see some similarities between this incident and our relationship with God.

"Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there"
God wants us to establish ourselves in His Church and to dwell in His house.

"and do not go out from there anywhere."
He desires that we do not stray away from His house, lest we be corrupted by the world.

"For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die"
If we do not heed His word, and cross the line, "we shall surely die".

"your blood shall be on your own head."
Therefore, it isn't God who is being merciless, but we are the ones who did what we deserve.

Let's see what is Shimei's response.

"The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do."

Isn't this what we always tell God as well on the day of our baptism? We promise Him that we can most definitely fulfill all that He has commanded. We also felt that we understood what it meant to be held accountable for our own actions. Perhaps we can really do it, but soon we realised that we can't. For Shimei, it took only three years before he went against what he had promised the king. He went away from Jerusalem to bring his slaves back from Gath. I am not sure if this constitutes a trivial event, but many times, haven't we went away from God for other trivial matters?

And what has Shimei got to say about that? Nothing.

We note that there was no account of his response anymore. Nothing he said matters anymore, because we must remember that this was Shimei's second chance from the king already. Shimei ought to have been punished previously (2 Sam 16:5-14), but by the king's grace, he was allowed to live, as long as he stay in Jerusalem and "do not go out from there anywhere". But since he couldn't even keep that covenant, he therefore was killed.

Remember also that when Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross, this was a second chance to us. We ought to have died, ought to be destined for eternal condemnation. But God's grace was so bountiful that we are given this second chance again.

As long as we abide in His truth and in His Spirit, we can be saved. But if we choose to go away, out of His grace, what else can He do? What else have I to say? My blood shall be on my own head.