2 Kings Part 2 - Everlasting Love

Ok...so the first part of my reading this week dealt with how Baal was taken and, well, totally defiled. Which is good right? The process of how it became "kicked out" of the temple worship is a little funny though. ; )

   So, we start out with Jehu proclaiming to all the priests and worshippers of Baal to come to the place where it was worshipped...and he made a point of saying something like, "If you don't come, I'll kill you," type of thing, so everyone came. He then made a fake sacrifice to Baal and had everyone in the temple to Baal killed. Guess what that place turned into? A restroom. Now, I get that it may not seem funny, but do you see how God changed a place that was supposed to be "holy" into a place that is looked on as a place of filth(we're talking back then of course)?

   The next chapters consisted of all the different kings of Israel and Judah...and let me tell you, Israel went through A LOT of kings in a short period of time. You can't help but think that that was part of their problem when they were delivered over to the Assyrians. The people there were not unified in anything, plus they were totally ignoring God. Talk about getting on someone's bad side...except God doesn't have a bad side. He was only giving justice where justice was due. He still loved the people of Israel because they were HIS people.

   This provides an application for us. If you are saved, you are his child. Here is a massive truth that I feel that we don't seem to get. GOD STILL LOVES US EVEN WHEN WE NEGLECT HIM!!! I mean, just stop and think about that. What would it be like if He just gave up on us after strike three, or even worse, strike one? We would have no purpose in this world, we would be in a constant state of depression, or even worse, a constant swinging back and forth between sinful things to compensate for our actions. Now, I'm not saying that we should get saved and then go on with our lives just as we had before. In fact, if that's what you feel like doing, you need to do a check on your status with God! We need to always try to do our best for God, but guess what? We are not perfect. Let me repeat that again. We. Are. Not. Perfect. There, I've said it. None of the world's self-esteem can butcher up that statement! ; )

   Anyway, the point is, we will find, eventually that God brings back the people of Israel from out of captivity. That is the beauty of our relationship with the Lord. Whenever we sin, His Spirit convicts us, and we have the opportunity to repent and start over because of the blood that was shed for us.

   I also don't want to neglect the fact that Easter/Resurrection Sunday is THIS Sunday! Please try to take the time to read the resurrection story, as this is the reason why we are able to go to heaven.