Confronted with a choice, I had to make a decision based upon principle. What did I truly believe about myself? Was I ready to cut away the manageable, convenient relationship for one that would demand my life and all I had? The choice was there before me and I had to either kill off the easy for the joy of depth or turn away from the fullness of a self-denying life and continue to chase the manageable convenient friendship.
In 2 Kings 17 we encounter the culmination of the heart of Israel toward God in relation to other gods in their midst. Hundreds of years of denying themselves of the blessing of obeying God’s revealed will for their lives in the Promise land led them to embody the curses God had promised would come if they would rebel against their Deliverer.
This passage is heart breaking, because we see the downfall of a people who had continually ignored the voice of their God in order to gratify themselves. The immediate, manageable gods of the nations who had possessed the land before them, seemed to provide a more satisfying, experiential life full of tangible expressions of worship. These gods placed man at the center and allowed man to prescribe how these false gods would be worshiped. Whenever man is allowed to conjure up the elements of worship, it will always benefit man and his desires.
Israel had become enslaved once again. Not to Egyptian Pharoahs but to the will of the flesh of men. They had turned their hearts from the revealed will of God who had delivered them and brought them up out of Egypt and traded it for a man-exalting, flesh-pleasing form of worship that denied the power of the Holy One in their midst. All the while saying that they loved God.
There is a fallen inclination that we have about ourselves. We tend to set our feelings and desires up above anything or anyone, especially if they lay any claim on our wills. Longing for the most satisfying experience we will deny the most fulfilling, life giving, flesh-killing reality and trade it for a manageable quick-fix experience that will gratify our yearnings for just another moment, and all the while say, “I love and fear the Lord”. Our hearts reflect so easily the divided heart of Israel and we sit in judgement over them when we read and wonder how they could have gotten so far off track.
11 years ago I sat outside my dormitory on Ozark Christian Colleges Campus, asking myself if I would rather have a friendship (with a member of the opposite sex) that was manageable, a friend I knew well and could finish their sentences. Or would I rather give my life pursuing a girl who had captured my heart and was full of mystery and wonder. I loved her and I knew it! But this pursuit would demand everything I had and would be the end of all other quasi-dating relationships. My heart would be devoted to Rachelle Marie Stewart and there would be no room for any other or I could just add her to the list of manageable friendships that I pursue when I needed them or wanted something from them. I had to decide to add her to the long list of friends or devote myself wholly to her and know and be known as a “lover”. There could be no middle ground. I love Rachelle and her alone!
Oh Father, Son, and Spirit, Unite my heart! Tear down any idols that I have constructed to satisfy my own desires. Incline my heart to your revelation and teach me to walk in your ways. Satisfy my longings with the bread of life and living water. May the well of my heart be filled to overflowing by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. Lord turn our affections to you! You alone are the God who saves, you are not without testimony. Now unto you alone, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Church. Amen.
