Divided Loyalty

For many who read the Bible the only sections more difficult to trudge through than the genealogies are those that contain the records of the rise and fall of the various kings in Israel and Judah. I've been reading through 1 and 2 Kings recently and there is no shortage of Kings who reigned in Israel and Judah for a certain number of years. Many are sons of the former King, some took their throne by force, others were forced into the throne. What we do know is that NONE of the Kings of Israel--Northern Tribes--was good. In fact, most of them "did evil in the sight of the Lord;" and "did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat..." (2King 13:11). Jeroboam promoted idolatry in Israel making two golden calves declaring, "behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt" (1Kings 12:28). He placed one of the calves at Dan and the other at Bethel so that the people would not go down to Jerusalem to worship. He instituted blatant idolatry which his successors continued. But there were some good Kings in Judah (the southern tribes). Recently I was struck by the fact that within the span of four chapters (2Kings 12-15) there were three of these Kings about which it is written that they "did right in the sight of the Lord...Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places" (2Kings 12:2-3; 14:3-4; 15:34-35). While this repetition can seem like just another instance of God's people living in rebellion (and it is that for sure), it caught my attention because I saw that these were very good kings, but they were divided in their loyalty. They meant well, they were seeking to please God, they were to be commended for their steadfastness. Yet they had a serious flaw--a divided heart. For some reason they just couldn't bring the people to cut all ties with idolatry, with pagan rituals, and serve the true God wholeheartedly.

As I was on my morning walk mulling this around in my brain, it struck me that I have behaved just like these kings. I have been seeking the Lord, trying to live for Him, serving Him for many years and yet, there have been various idols/idolatrous practices that I have been slow to eradicate from my life. I began to think about my life and the "high places" that I have "sacrificed to and burned incense on." There was my penchant for collecting farm toys, my love of sports (participating and watching) and the effort put into seeing that my children succeeded (at least in part it was a quest for me to gain approval vicariously through them--yeah, I know it is not pretty), a desire to own property (I went to a farm auction once, but the bidding quickly went beyond my resources) that for a while preoccupied my thoughts, and other things that stood/stand in the way of whole-hearted devotion to the Lord.

It was a sobering walk as I saw in my heart idols that I had/have not fully eliminated. So it was time to confess my sin and rejoice in God's gracious forgiveness and mercy. I know the battle still rages for unswerving devotion to the Lord and I'm thankful for the message of 2Kings in these verses that remind me that it's possible to do what is right in the sight of the Lord and still have strongholds of sin that need to be eradicated.