READING: 2 Kings 9-11
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: Following God means taking drastic steps to eradicate the false gods from our lives. Seldom is that commitment so evident as it was in 2 Kings 10:18-27, where Jehu used a ruse to destroy Baal worshipers and their temple. So complete was the destruction that they turned the Baal temple into a toilet:
2 Kgs. 10:26-27 They brought out the pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them and tore down the pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it a latrine—which it is to this day.
Still, while Jehu carried out the destruction of Baal, he did not eliminate the worship via golden calves in Bethel and Dan; that is, he committed himself to God only part of the way.
2 Kgs. 10:31 Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
Sometimes, I think, we rest in the fact that we’ve overcome the “big” sins in our life and neglect dealing with the remaining ones. Regardless of what drastic steps we take to remove false gods, partial obedience is still disobedience.
PRAYER: Pray with me that we will deal with ALL the sins in our lives. On this day when we celebrate freedom, pray we will have true freedom through the Son.
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 12-13; 2 Chronicles 24
