4.11 2 Kings 9-12

Clay Carstensen

4.11.2020

2 Kings 9-12

WOW!  These are some pretty brutal and gory parts of the bible!  From the killing of 70 princes to tricking the prophets of Baal and ridding the earth of them with 80 soldiers, vengeance was being had on the people who chose to worship anything other than the Lord God Almighty!  Throughout the reading, I was wondering what it was I would glean from this that isn’t already super obvious like not worshipping anything other than God. Then I came to the verse in chapter 10:31. For me, it is the key verse in this chunk of scripture.  

“Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.”  

2 Kings 10:31

All of the conquests and zeal for the Lord yet he was not careful to keep the law of the Lord.  He fell short of the finish line in his quest to serve the Lord. It makes me wonder; Does the Lord have all of my heart?  Is there something else that is vying for it?

What I read, reminded me that God doesn’t want a part time relationship with us.  He doesn’t desire to be second place. He won’t sit idle and allow us to push him off to the back burner.  There are consequences for such behavior and blessings on the other side of it for those that give God all of themselves.  In this time of change, perhaps it’s a time to re-evaluate our priorities. Perhaps a time to really evaluate if we have given God ALL our hearts, ALL our minds, and ALL our strength.  

Going forward, I am needing to look at the different areas of my life and see if I need to make some adjustments. Repentance.  I am going to look at my priorities and see if they are in line with the gospel and the Jesus followers I read about in the Bible.  I will make sure myself and my family are truly “Going with God” in our daily lives. I may be calling on some of you for your honest opinion so please don’t hold back.  We need each other at times to point out where we may be going astray. I Praise God for people like you all in my life.  

I see Jesus show up in these scriptures in Chapter 11 and 12.  An unlikely king shows up. Under the radar, looking nothing like a king, far too young some would say.  During this holy week, we at our home celebrated Psalm Sunday when an unlikely king came into town in a very unlikely manor.  Riding a donkey. Nothing about him said Royalty…at least to the untrained eye. He would then be beaten, ridiculed, and the crucified with a mockery sign stating that he was King of the Jews.  Oh but the world would soon see that surely he was and is  the King of Kings, the son of Man, The Savior of the world.