Imitating Detestable Practices
As I posted the other day, we all need good mentors who will lead us in the right way to live the Christian life. If we fail to follow the Lord and our godly mentors, our life can be destroyed. We will not please, God, and we won't accomplish His plan for us, so we will be miserable. This is true no matter how much money we have or how many people we please. It is a sad state in which to live. That is what happened to King Ahaz of Judah. (II Kings 16:2,3) He was 20 years old when he became king, and he reigned 16 years. He did not do what was right in the Lord's sight, as his ancestor David had done. He turned to the wrong mentors, and he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, who were evil. He even sacrificed his son in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations God had dispossessed from the land He gave His people. We have to wonder why Ahaz did that and why people continue to do that today?
Why would a follower of Jesus end up imitating the detestable practices of people who do not follow the Lord at all? This is a complicated question to answer, because there is a different reason in each person's life. However, all of the reasons lead back to the same source. When we put our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is to be a forever faith. We are to trust the Lord and His Word for everything in our life. If we ever veer away from this path and follow the ways of those who don't know the Lord, most of the time it is because we decide we want to please people more than we want to please God. We think by imitating their ways, they will accept us. Since we want people to accept us, we do those things we know are wrong. This is often the case with Christian young ladies. They want a husband, so they imitate the practices of the world in their search. They end up with the wrong husband, and they end up with a fractured life, instead of the happiness they desire. Therefore, we must seek to love the Lord first and please Him in all we do, so we will never act in the detestable ways of those around us. Then, God can and will bless us, if we will be patient and wait on Him to guide us and to provide for us.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 17-19.