When God gives us an order, we are to follow that order. Not 50% of the order, not 75% of the order and not even 99% of the order. If we leave part of the order unfollowed, even a small part, the whole order is not followed. At our church, our most recent pastor took us on a journey through the Old Testament. When we got to the books of Judges, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings, the overwhelming theme was a cycle of good guys — prosperous land — bad guys — punishment — repentance — good guys, and the cycle continued. However, in this passage of 2 Kings, we see that even those who did good in the eyes of the Lord did NOT follow the whole order. When God said to get rid of ALL the things that were causing the people to sin, the “good” leaders overlooked these Asherah poles, and other signs and symbols of paganism and idol worship. Soon enough, the people were back to their old ways, and the good was quickly erased by evildoers. In our lives, when we repent from sin, we are to “make a 180 degree turn and go in the opposite direction.” If we even take a sliver of something that caused us to fall before with us and “overlook” it because it’s so small, we can very quickly be tempted by those things which caused us to fall before — ouch! — are my toes the only ones that are sore?

Oh God, when you give me an order, help me to follow the order, every piece of it, so that I can run into Your arms and never look back! 

Dr. Glen E. Neal, Lenoir, N.C.

Extended Scripture: 2 Kings 13–16