The High Places

2 Kings 12
1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

I've been going through the Old Testament the last part of this year and it is interesting to hear of all the kings of Judah and Israel. They chose to follow God or they did not. But every now and then, there is this "exception" that I read of those who follow the Lord, but they keep the high places allowing others to sacrifice to Asherah a mother goddess, Baal and other idols.

I know the question is one that has been asked, but sometimes, lessons we actually learn are ones that we hear more than once, so I'll ask it anyway: Do you have high places? I know that my audience is predominantly Christian, but if you walk the high hills of your heart, what do you see? Are there things you hold out for yourself? Are there "off limits" places in your walk that you have not torn down yet?

If we are honest, most of us can find something that is a high place. Is it money? your time? what you watch? who you depend on? places you go? what you listen to? unforgiveness? I am no prophet or mind reader. I can't answer that question. No one can answer that question but you and God. He knows and He loves you anyway.

My hopes are to be like Josiah. When my days are done, I want to know I tried my best to hold nothing back. Feed the poor, help the homeless, the widow, teach, serve, laugh, study and sing all in the name and for the name of Jesus.

Holy wars never were very effective in bringing people to Jesus, but the church today needs to lead a war campaign for the hearts of people. We must tear down our high places and shine like Josiah. In our obedience in removing the high places, we will honor God more than we ever thought we could.

Josiah was given the book of God and realized the sin of his people. He tore his clothes as king and repented of the people's sin and his own sin. Here is an account of Josiah the king's reaction to the knowledge of God. (KEEP IN MIND HE WAS 18 WHEN THIS STARTED!!!):

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.
5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.
6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people.
7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD and where women did weaving for Asherah.
8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates—at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate.
9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.
13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.

There's more, but Josiah, when he learned of God, he went for it. He trashed everything that set itself against God in his land. My challenge today is for you to clean your lands. Remove your high places. Fight the places in your heart and life that don't belong to God and conquer them for God's glory. Your inner battles won will have an outer effect.

In verse 25, the final thought of Josiah was this:

Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

You are writing the story of your life right now as you live and we all are living in a generation where those who believe in Christ must stand to make a difference or what we have will be taken from us. We can't stand for what Christians have bickered over in the past. We can't fight about doctrine differences, Rapture timings, ceremonies, etc... It has to be about what a real relationship with Jesus means.

We must vow to remove the high places from our lives and turn our hearts in serving the King. It matters more than anything, even our own lives. It is for His renown that we set ourselves as ambassadors for in this world.

God bless and with much love,
Dave