won to a heart like His

It's not often that I start writing
referring to, or continuing a topic
from the prior day's post.
Unless of course, I have declared a series.

And certainly yesterday would not be one
that I'd like to revisit anytime soon.
It simply made me uncomfortable,
to tread on water so close to the edge...
as if I was about to tip over the waterfall
into the rapids of the extreme unknown.

But then today, I read again about kings...
this one did what was right
in the sight of the Lord.
And this one did what was evil
in the sight of the Lord.

Just after a prophet had warned them...
just after he said,
Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
Amos 5:14-15 NKJV

So I think it's clear
which kings were being faithful
to the first verse
Seek good and not evil.
And I think we are easily capable of that...
the seeking of such.

It's that darned verse 15 that trips us up...
the one that I struggled over yesterday.
Hate evil, love good...
For now it seems more plain to me
because I can see it defined by a king.
He put this verse into action
before our very eyes.

Here is a paragraph,
much like the description of any new king,
it follows the same format...

In the second year of Pekah...
Jotham the son of Uzziah,
king of Judah, began to reign....
And he did what was right
in the sight of the Lord;
he did according to all
that his father Uzziah had done.
However the high places were not removed;
the people still sacrificed and
burned incense on the high places.
​He built the Upper Gate
of the house of the Lord.
2 Kings 15:32 - 35

Jotham, King of Judah,
reigned for sixteen years.
According to the paragraph above,
He loved good, but did not hate evil.

Here is the good he loved...
he did according to all that
his father Uzziah had done.
and
He built the Upper Gate
of the house of the Lord.

But here is the evil he did not hate...
However the high places were not removed.

King Jotham tolerated the altars and shrines
that stood on the hillsides
and in the high places
of the cities in Judah.
Even though he was responsible
to lead these people,
he did not take a stand against the idolatry
in his cities, allowing them to worship
gods other than the one true God.
While that high gate he built was meant
to honor God by being higher than those altars
it was only for himself and the priests.
The people of Judah
continued to worship idols...
the people still sacrificed and
burned incense on the high places.

Now I'm not just picking on
King Jotham in any way.
Because he was by no means the only king
who has a description like this.
There were several kings before him
with the very same description.

In fact, if you go back to the time
when the lands were distributed
to the heads of the tribes of Israel,
the time before kings,
even they were commanded
to dispossess the land
of any idol worshippers who lived there.

They were to hate evil all the way back then.
And not all of them were faithful to that.
And the effect of this tolerance
was being seen
even here, even now.

So it's not completely Jotham's fault.
But someone has to put their foot down.
That was the prophet's message...
for a reason, for that time.

​For look at the description of the next king...
Jotham's son.

In the seventeenth year of Pekah...
Ahaz the son of Jotham,
king of Judah, began to reign.
Ahaz was twenty years old
when he became king,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem;
and he did not do what was right
in the sight of the Lord his God,
as his father David had done.
But he walked in the way
of the kings of Israel;
indeed he made his son pass through the fire,
according to the abominations
of the nations whom the Lord had cast out
from before the children of Israel.
And he sacrificed and burned incense
on the high places, on the hills,
and under every green tree.
2 Kings 16:1-4

Now, Judah, the only nation left unto God,
had turned it's back on Him.
The nation He chose.
Those He led from slavery out of Egypt.

His countenance can no longer be upon them.
They chose their own way...
no matter the warning.

This is...
the what,
and the why
​that keeps me reading.
That keeps me coming back to God's word.
Because it is filled with flawed people...
just like me.

But it is not really all about them.
Just as my life is not really all about me.

The Bible is all about...
a God who will never stop pursuing us.
Even though He cannot look upon
the evil that we choose over Him.

He created us.
He loves us.
We choose to walk away from that.
And still...
He pursues us.

The Bible is not an outdated book.
Don't believe that lie.
Its not boring or hard to understand.

It is a rich history, living and active,
filled with the transparent character of God,
displayed through the brokenness of humanity.

And I love every drop I can drink of it...
everyday!

Word of God,
train me, today...
to continually endeavor to do good,
to continually strive to hate evil.

You know Lord,
that my heart is frail,
fragile, flawed and finite.

But that is simply
how You made me.

You know my limitations
and that is why
You continually pursue me.

For You are trying to make a point
to that fallen, darkened spirit, satan.

he chose not to serve You...
wanting to rule his own world.

And You, through us,
will prove to him that,
yes...
even the beings with
frailer powers than his,
have hearts that can be won,
willing and eager to love You...
doing good and hating evil.

When they call upon,
trust in,
and believe...
that greater is He that is in them
than he that is in
​this world.