THE UN-DOING OF US ALL
Today's reading: 2 Kings 11-15

"All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight because Jehoida the priest instructed him. Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there." 2 Kings 12:2-3 NLT

The little boy king. The determined servant. The re-builder of the Temple. The one remembered for many good things. The one who was still plagued with ungodliness.

Could be us, couldn't it? We try. We serve. We dedicate ourselves. We minister. We participate in each and every outreach our church is involved in. But those pagan shrines we're leaving in our lives will be the un-doing of us all!

No, it' not the stuff God's forgiven us of. The things in the past, the sins we've committed and have asked His forgiveness for, the mistakes we've made. It's the stuff we're keeping in our closets, at our fingertips, within easy reach when we fall back to our old, sinful ways.

Is it worry? Worry has built a fine shrine in many of our lives. Sturdy. Spacious. Welcoming.

Is it doubt? Doubt rests solidly on a foundation of questionable facts. Intimidating in its size. Persuasive in its manner.

Is it self? One's abilities, or lack of them, is a shrine of epic proportion--bigger than the Taj Mahal! The halls of 'I can do it myself' are littered with paraphenalia of our successes and failures.

We must, individually, be very careful of the ungodly things we're allowing to blemish our records of godliness.