Forsaking Idols

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

As I was reading through 2 Kings yesterday, I made a distressing observation. It had to do with the Children of Israel, but I think it applies to our nation as well. The author of Kings  wrote about the double-mindedness of the nation. They served God and idols at the same time. While they claimed and practiced a modicum of a God-fearing lifestyle, at the same time they served idols, false gods that had creeped into their culture. 

That, itself, was sad and destructive enough. However, the tragedy was magnified in that the next generations followed in their footsteps. What began as the nation’s disobedience became the sinful tendency of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. 

When the author wrote about these things, it was approximately 300 years from his statement, “as their fathers did, so they do to this day.” 300 years! For centuries, like a chain reaction, their mediocre religion passed down from one generation to another — from one family to another. 

Beware! Half-hearted service to God has lasting effects. To claim that you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength while pursuing the enticement of the world, leaves behind generations who have no compass, who do not know a single-minded devotion to God.

What a sorry legacy for a nation, a family, a person. Let’s not be that them! Let’s love God with all our heart, forsake all idols, and live a holy life before the world.

So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day. 2 Kings 17.41