1st Kings 12:25-33 HE DEVISED Convenience compared to command in the things of God is a problem among Christians today in a way that is similar to the Israelites in the past. Political concerns often affect spiritual commitment when Jesus Christ is not Lord in actual fact in the life of a believer. Rather than seeking the Lord's guidance and will in a matter, even when dealing with a problem of injustice and/or unfairness, a child of God who looks at an event or an issue through the eyes of the world will make a mistake that may never be rectified.
Jeroboam apparently had great leadership potential when he was a young man and God was willing to use him for His own purposes. However, Jeroboam took things into his own hands and acted on his own. That which could have been a great opportunity, both for him and for those he led, was ruined by his scheming ways. "He thought to himself" - not went to the Lord for guidance. "He fortified Shechem " - a place of his own choosing. "He lived there," and "he went out and built up Peniel."
Acting independently of divine direction, even when it came to a seemingly sensible decision to build up a strategic city, left Jeroboam without the support of the Lord. A great opportunity for the good of God's people can be lost by making a decision, even a small one, in the energy of the flesh. Carelessness in one matter leads to the consequences of error even though we may later try to correct it. To assume the authority over that which God does Himself, leads to serious mistakes that can hinder the work of God for generations.
It may be because of youthful inexperience, not pride, that Jeroboam "thought to himself" or "said in his heart" he would lose that which God said he would have. For whatever reason, he listened to bad advice and made the two calves of gold. It is not an uncommon practice today to seek to combine paganism and the worship of God. Pagan practices are noisy, appealing to the flesh and popular because they make people feel good about themselves. Such practices have been associated with idolatry all over the world for generations. Now these practices have found their way into church services and are called "worship" under a "worship leader." Like ambitious, presumptuous Jeroboam, the loyalty and interest of convenient religious practices are sought by those who ignore the word of God.
In Jeroboam's day they professed to worship God, but in their own way, and in their own place at a time that was convenient for them. This practice led to even Bethel (house of God) becoming notable as an idolatrous, wicked city that was condemned by the prophet Amos. This practice still is wrong. It is not at our convenience nor in our own way we "worship the Father in spirit and in truth." Both "spirit" (of people) and "truth" (of God) are involved in worship. Solomon started this whole problem and by the time Rehoboam and Jeroboam took leadership of the divided kingdom, the people of Israel were accustomed to this compromised religion.
Both Dan in the north, and Bethel, twelve miles from Jerusalem, had "high places," and all that went on there was an abomination to the Lord. To abandon spiritual principles for practical expediency is a device Satan has used effectively down through the ages to this present day to hinder the work of God.