“They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.”
Whole hearted devotion can be seen in the Olympic athletes. The devotion to train for years in order to be at their peek physical performance when they compete is an awesome thing to watch. My niece is an incredible athlete. She has held the top spot for gymnastics in Texas for a number of years ever since she was old enough to compete. She trained all the time at the gym, nearly every night and her devotion to the sport, as well as her God given ability, showed.
I asked her one time if she would be interested in training for the Olympics. I thought her answer would be a yes for sure but she said no. No? She was the best in the state of Texas and the timing was perfect. I even had talks with my brother, her dad, about the Olympics. The reason she gave: the training would take over my entire life and I did not want to do that. For her it was the right decision.
In the passage above, Israel and Judah had fallen from grace. They had, for many years, practiced evil in the sight of the Lord. Chapter 17 is a run down of the things they did to separate themselves from God. Hoshea was the last king of Israel and he was just like all the rest. For many years, the kings of Israel would send tribute, a bribe payment, to the neighboring countries to keep them from attacking Israel. Hoshea chose not to do this and sent envoys to Egypt instead. Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, in turn put Hoshea in prison and preceded to exile all of Israel to towns of Medes far away from their homeland.
Assyria had moved in and lived in Israel in their absence. Assyria, living in Israel, was not having a wonderful time enjoying things. Since they moved in, the Lord sent lions to kill and terrorize the Assyrians. So the leaders sent for some of the priests to teach the people how to worship God in order to stop this. The priests came and began to teach the people how to worship the Lord. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled. Verses 32 to 33 reveal a chilling truth about the people. The priests were successful in teaching how to worship God, but they did not stop worshiping all the gods they had brought in from their homelands.
Matthew 12:22-28 tells a story about Jesus casting out a demon from a man. The pharisees see Him do this and accuse him of using Satan’s power to do so. Jesus tells them that a house divided against itself will not stand because light cannot dwell with darkness and vise versa. A house divided against itself will not stand. The Israelites played both sides for many years and in the end they were punished for this.
The New Covenant we are under with Jesus as our mediator between God and man is different. God sees us through the blood of Jesus, spotless and blameless and our sins are atoned for. The same truth applies though. If you try to be a follower of Jesus and refuse to give up the sin in your life, you should expect that you will reap what you sow. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross doesn’t give us a license to sin, but rather it gives us something we do not deserve, grace. “But they also…” is describing the Israelites and how they refused to only serve God.
The question we all should be asking ourselves is “does this describe me?” Do have one foot in the world and one foot following Christ? Do you go to church on Sunday but on Monday act like you never went to church at all? Verse 41 says, “Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols.” Today, you must stop being double minded and unstable in all your ways! Follow Christ and believe. Walk by faith and get rid of all of the sin that you have held in secret as they have become your idols. Let it never be said of you, “But he or she also…” Whole hearted devotion will require your all, your everything, your entire being. As with an Olympic athlete, complete devotion is required when you choose to follow Christ.
Prayer: Father, it is a sobering reminder of what opening a door to Satan can do in our lives. I thank you that the blood of Jesus has washed us clean and that we are redeemed from the curse of the law deserving death because of our sin. I thank you now for enlightening us to your promises and truths found in your Word. May we meditate on them day and night and be found as a tree planted by the streams of living water and bear fruit in our season. May we never have any idols replacing you. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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