Do We Fear the Lord or the Lions?

In 2 Ki. 17, people were imported to Israel from all over Assyria, and lions came and were devouring them.  They knew this was a sign, so they asked the king to send them a priest who could teach them how to worship the Lord of the land.  So the priest began to teach them what it meant to fear the Lord.  BUT… they continued to worship other gods (who are no gods at all).  Spurgeon points out that they didn’t fear the Lord, they feared the lions who were devouring them.  He states, “Rather than wanting to know God, they wanted to know how they were to behave… to try and keep religion and yet to keep our sins is not to fear God but to insult him.” 

“Rather than wanting to know God, they wanted to know how they were to behave… to try and keep religion and yet to keep our sins is not to fear God but to insult him.”  

CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN, p. 494

To know and to fear the Lord is to forsake sin, and to make sure that we put nothing before Him.  Yet our culture teaches us to embrace sin, and to put other things before God.  If this were not so, then wouldn’t our time with God be our priority?  We can spend hours on TV watching shows, news and sports every day, or engaging in different forms of social media (look at your totals on your devices and see where your time is spent), yet what does it look like when we reflect on how much time we are spending with the Lord?

Lord, forgive us!

Have we put our comforts and desires above reaching the lost, the lonely, the hurting (those who Christ also died for)?  Those whom God has put in our lives so that we can share the incomparable grace and love of the Lord?

Lord, forgive us!

And for those churches seeking to be multiethnic, have we put our service preferences and choices for leadership above reaching the lost, the lonely, the hurting who don’t look like us?  Are we willing to make sacrifices to see the body of Christ come together for His glory and His kingdom’s advancement?

Lord, forgive us!

Lord, if we are honest, we don’t have as healthy of a fear of You as we should.  We fear consequences more than we fear You.  Our desire is to please ourselves instead of pleasing You.  Yet if we are to desire to love You with all that we are (heart, soul, mind, and strength), then we need to put You first.  Please help us to do that.  May we reflect on our lives and make sure that there aren’t any idols that we are worshiping along with You, for that is not true worship.  Help us to make You the object of our desire, and give us a heart that desires to share that with others, that the world may know You!  In Jesus Name…