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The Nation From Which I Come…

I stumbled across and interesting passage of scripture the other day.  It’s not that I haven’t heard this story a bajillion times already, but I got to thinking.  I was reading in 2 Kings 17…. I know, it’s your favorite book… But when I got to verse 32 it got interesting.  Here is the story from the “Message” translation (as it’s easy to follow…) then I’ll show you the NLT which I was originally reading it in.

They honored and worshiped GOD, but not exclusively–they also appointed all sorts of priests, regardless of qualification, to conduct a variety of rites at the local fertility shrines. They honored and worshiped GOD, but they also kept up their devotions to the old gods of the places they had come from.

And they’re still doing it, still worshiping any old god that has nostalgic appeal to them. They don’t really worship GOD-they don’t take seriously what he says regarding how to behave and what to believe, what he revealed to the children of Jacob whom he named Israel. GOD made a covenant with his people and ordered them, “Don’t honor other gods: Don’t worship them, don’t serve them, don’t offer sacrifices to them. Worship GOD, the God who delivered you from Egypt in great and personal power. Reverence and fear him. Worship him. Sacrifice to him. And only him! All the things he had written down for you, directing you in what to believe and how to behave–well, do them for as long as you live. And whatever you do, don’t worship other gods! And the covenant he made with you, don’t forget your part in that. And don’t worship other gods! Worship GOD, and GOD only–he’s the one who will save your from enemy oppression.”

So tell me, if you had to take one thing out of this passage, what would it be?  What do you think the message is that God is trying to send to the Israelites?  Could it BE any clearer?  But they didn’t listen.  In fact, they never stopped worshipping other Gods as well as the Lord…  Now let me take you back to the translation I read this in originally (NLT).  The first two verses are awesome.

These new residents worshiped the LORD, but they appointed from among themselves priests to offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines. And though they worshiped the LORD, they continued to follow the religious customs of the nations from which they came.

The nations from which they came… gave them their customs… their beliefs… their traditions… their behavioral patterns… yes… even their Gods.  And when the rubber met the road, only ONE GOD saved them from their enemies… They witnessed it first-hand!  Yet they couldn’t obey when that same God said, “SEE??? I’m the ONLY real God… I LOVE YOU!  Please stop cheating on me.”  They didn’t get it.  And they continued to slap him in the face with their actions.

“The nation from which I come” is a human heart full of sin.  And although I worship Him, I still tend to my desires and customs of the nation from which I come… and it hurts.  Maybe not physically, but mentally, spiritually, relationally…

What are the customs of the “nation from which you come” that YOU honor… maybe despite God’s desire for your life?

Later I was reading in 2 Kings 23… See, 2 Kings is a record of all the kings of Israel and their surrounding nations… It’s a history book really.  But anyway, there are a LOT of kings that it talks about… some in great depth, some in a single sentence.  Verse 25 talks about a king named Josiah.  It says, “Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.”

If God decided to write “the Bible 2” in the year 2150… And you were going to be in it… What would it say?  Would it say, “Never before had there been a person like that of _____, who turned to the LORD with all their heart and soul and strength, obeying all I have commanded… and there has never been anyone like them since.”

What will be said of you when you’re home with God?  How will you be remembered?  What did you live for?  WHO did you live for?  Are your knees to the earth?  Are your crowns at his feet?  Is your heart full of pride, your mind full of lust, your time wasted on your own agendas?  Are you living God’s will for your life, or your own?  What legacy will you leave?

Have you severed your ties with the “nation from which you come” in order to fully obey God?

Think about it.