They worshipped the LORD, but...


I’m reading 2 Kings as part of my daily devotionals at the moment. I came across something I highlighted previously, and reviewing it now, it seems important to pen down what I have learned.

2 Kings 17 talks about Hoshea the last king of Israel, and the exile of the nation of Israel to Assyria, as a result of their rebellion against God. 2 Kings 17:15 says:

“They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.”

It’s worth noting that BECAUSE the Israelites followed worthless idols, they themselves became worthless. And so it is with us. When we follow worthless idols, which can include selfish ambition, vanity, mammon, and carried to an extreme, even our friends and family, we become as worthless as the things we pursue.

And because we become worthless, God will remove us from his presence (2 Kings 17:18).

2 Kings 17 goes on to describe how the Assyrians sent settlers to replace the exiled Israelite people. These settlers took on some of the practices of worshipping the Lord, but kept their own practices as well.

2 Kings 17:32-33 says:

“They worshipped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshipped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.”

2 Kings 17:41 says:

“Even while these people were worshipping the LORD, they were serving their idols.”

What about us today? Even while we purport to worship the Lord by attending church, going to cell or whatever, are we still serving our idols? Are we still serving our own selfish ambition? Building our own house before we set God’s house in order? Secretly living in sin while continuing to go to cell? Failing to defend God and proclaim His good news when it seems awkward?
It’s tiring, confusing and ultimately pointless and a waste of time to be half-hearted in following Jesus. I pray that you and I can throw off the sin that so easily entangles, and follow hard after Him, because His yoke is easy, and His burden is light!

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