Be Responsible (1 Kings): Being Good Stewards of God's Gifts

The "Be" Commentary

by Warren W. Wiersbe

It’s not easy to take responsibility in life. Whether it’s in our jobs, our finances, or even our relationships, we all struggle to take ownership of our habits and choices.
Yet personal accountability is essential to both our personal and spiritual growth.
Based on the book of 1 Kings, this study offers a compelling contrast between those who are accountable to God and others, and those who continually shift the blame to others. Part of Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s best-selling “BE” commentary series, BE Responsible has now been updated with study questions and a new introduction by Ken Baugh. A respected pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. Wiersbe shares how our integrity is connected with responsibility, and encourages us to stay accountable in each part of our lives.
 

Genres: Christian, Reference, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Old Testament, Christian Non Fiction, Theology

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 2002

About the author

Warren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of the Moody Church and general director of Back to the Bible, has traveled widely as a Bible teacher and conference speaker. Because of his encouragement to those in ministry, Dr. Wiersbe is often referred to as 'the pastor's pastor.' He has ministered in churches and conferences throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Central and South America, and Europe. Dr. Wiersbe has written over 150 books, including the popular BE series of commentaries on every book of the Bible, which has sold more than four million copies. At the 2002 Christian Booksellers Convention, he was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dr. Wiersbe and his wife, Betty, live in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Reviews

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"With great power, comes great responsibility"
To the certain extent, this proverb maybe true and could be applied in this book. Its just the responsibility not only to others, but to the God also.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 5 out of 5]

As all his other commentaries I’ve read, this one is no different, an excellent analysis of the 1 Kings book in the Bible.

[Mike Eccles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this commentary. It is clear to me that my struggle was related to the historical narrative and the plethora of people and places described. I'm just not good with names, so even switching digitally between the book on Kindle and The Bible on my Bible app, I kept losing the plot. I'm glad I pushed through because at least now I have a perception of what 1 Kings is all about. I would never have got through it without Wiersbe's help. Complete change of emphasis coming up - heading for Revelation in Wiersbe's company!

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Wiersbe book with simple truths in an easy format. If yore looking for depth look elsewhere but these Be books are great devotional reads.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good commentary of 1 Kings and the corresponding places in 1 Chronicles. Following Solomon and his choices that affected the whole nation.

[Barbara Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warren Wiersbe helps us glean understanding in Be Responsible (1 Kings): Being Good Stewards of God’s Gifts.

The book of 1 Kings begins with the death of David, Israel’s greatest king, and ends with the death of Ahab, one of Israel’s worst kings.

In-between those two kings, the temple was built, but then the kingdom of Israel split in two. The southern kingdom, Judah, was ruled by David’s line. The northern kingdom with the rest of the tribes was ruled by various people.

A few of the kings were good to some degree, but most were bad and led Israel in their besetting sin, idolatry.

God raised up prophets to warn the kings and the people about the danger they were in due to their disobedience. This book had Elijah’s famous showdown with the prophets of Baal and Elisha taking up Elijah’s mantle. But there were many unnamed prophets faithfully doing God’s will.

Here are some of the quotes that stood out to me from Wiersbe’s writing:

The two books of Kings record about four hundred years of the history of Israel and Judah, while the two books of Chronicles see the history of the united kingdom and then the kingdom of Judah from the priestly point of view. Besides recording history, these books teach theology, especially the faithfulness of God in keeping His covenant, the sovereignty of God in directing the destinies of all nations, and the holiness of God in opposing idolatry (p. 13).

Integrity is one of the vital foundations of society, but integrity involves taking responsibility and facing accountability. This includes leadership in the home and church as well as in the halls of academe and the political chambers. It’s one thing to make promises at the church altar or to take an oath of office, but it’s quite another to assume responsibility and act with courage and honesty and seek to please God (p. 11).

God took the consequences of David’s two worst sins—a piece of property and a son—and built a temple! “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5: 20 NKJV). This isn’t an encouragement for us to sin, because David paid dearly for both of those transgressions, but it is an encouragement to us to go on serving God after we’ve repented and confessed our sins. Satan wants us to think that all is lost, but the God of all grace is still at work (1 Peter 5: 10) (p. 53).

“Because of our proneness to look at the bucket and forget the fountain,” wrote Watchman Nee, “God has frequently to change His means of supply to keep our eyes fixed on the source” (p. 160).

Responsibility means our response to His ability (p. 214).

I appreciate Dr. Wiersbe’s help in getting more from 1 Kings.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the wise commentary this book provides, the final summary was especially thought provoking.

This paragraph specifically got me thinking, what if our communities were like this?
"Paul saw the local church as a family in God (Titus 2:1-8), with one generation ministering to another. Younger people treat the older folks as they would their parents or grandparents, and older saints treat the younger ones as they would their own children. When a family gets together, they don't always agree on everything, but they try to help each other during the various stages of life. That's the way it should be in the home, the church, and the nation."

[R. Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Commentary

As Warren W. Wiersbe says in hiscommentary TO BE RESPONSIBLE (1 Kings) Being Good Stewards, "The book of 1 Kings has revealed to us the sinfulness of the human heart, the faithfulness of a loving God, and the seriousness of being a part of God’s believing remnant." It tells the story of the kings of Israel from King David to King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat. This book makes for an excellent Bible study for either individuals or small groups. I give it Mr highest recommendation.

[Hannah Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing to be thankful for commentary. The book of 1 Kings when I was younger just seemed like a crazy book full of crazy Bible stories. But reading it now, I see the clear undercurrent of what it means to be a leader and follow God. Some of these kings had some of their actions recorded but all of them were spoken about their relation to God. Whether their “hearts were set on seeking the Lord” or “they did evil in the eyes of the Lord” they were remembered by their relation to the Lord. An important lesson for us all to learn and walk, leaders or not.

[Clara Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book as with most of Wiersbe's books is full of amazing insights. "Once an opportunity is lost, it won't be repeated." "An idol is not only an insult to God but it is an insult to man, for men and women were created in the image of God to reflect the glory of the true and living God." "Reformation means getting rid of the accretions of the new things to get back to the foundations of the old things."

[Thelma Fountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is part of a series called the " Be series " written by Warren B. Weirsbe. I thought this book was very insightful. Dr. Wiersbe is very skilled at explaining deep spiritual truths in a manner any lay person can understand. All of the books I have read that he authored are excellent. Highly recommend.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be Responsible

I was introduced to Pastor Wiersbe's YouTube sermons a couple years ago and have enjoyed them very much. Now I'm beginning my spiritual journey with his booklets on different books of the Bible. He has the gift of expounding on scripture that's very understanding.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful

The author really fleshes out scripture and helps me understand what these ancient texts mean to me in this modern day. He makes it easy to understand and apply the lessons being taught .

It's very comprehensive yet easy to understand.

[Ferry · Rating 4 out of 5]

a display of character

I learnt a lot of various personalities in the form of Israel kings. Many were in position of wealth of power, yet loses their life because they did not regard the true king who sits on the eternal throne.

[Randy Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great study

[Leonor Acosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book been reading all hisbooks

Great reading i have been reading all his books and enjoyed each one of them highly recommend it to anyone

[DT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read most of the books in this series, but this one was one of the worst. Most of it was just vague summaries of the biblical texts with little additional insight or commentary.

[Jan Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight

Warren Wiersbe makes the book of First Kings come alive. Such deep insights yet very readable for the average person.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be Responsible is a Bible study of 1 Kings, which are paralleled in some of 1 Chronicles. First and Second Kings records the history of Israel and Judah and First and Second Chronicles gives the “priestly” point of view of the same period. There is an outline at the very beginning of the book showing which passages of each book can be read together. First Kings shows how different Solomon was from his father David. Ultimately, Solomon’s pride and disobedience had tragic effects and the nation divided after his death.

Wiersbe writes: “Integrity is one of the vital foundations of society, but integrity involves taking responsibility and facing accountability. This includes leadership in the home and church as well as in the halls of academe and the political chambers…As we study 1 Kings, we will see over and over again the importance of moral character in leaders and the tragedy of leaving God out of national affairs.”

[Rachel Mellema · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the contrast between those who are accountable to God and others, and those who continually shift the blame to others. Wiersbe shares how our integrity is connected with responsibility, and encourages us to stay accountable in each part of our lives. Hard truths but very relevant for today, I loved it.