February 4 - Destroyed by Duplicity

Overview of: 2 Kings

Today's Reading:
2 Kings 17:1-23; 35-41
"The Fall of Israel"

Focus Verses: 2 Kings 17:40-41
40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Insight:
In today's reading we see the historic account of the unfaithfulness Hosea and Amos preached against. Israel fell because of its half-heartedness toward God. They allowed their worship of God to be compromised and corrupted by serving foreign gods and idols. This spiritual adultery began with the first king to rule over the north after Solomon's death, Jeroboam, and persisted even after the fall of Israel.

Response and Action:
God calls us to undivided devotion to him. We are to worship him, and him only. Half-heartedness toward God is self-destructive. God calls us to worship him in spirit and truth. I will seek God with wholehearted devotion. I will honor God by put him first in my life. I will follow Jesus and look to him for the guidance and strength I need to draw near to God.

O God, help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Lead me away from temptation, and deliver me from evil. Help me to turn away from what is wrong and to do what is right. Teach me to recognize those things that threaten to diminish or corrupt my walk with you. Help me to worship you in spirit and in truth. Show me your ways and give me an undivided heart that is quick to worship and serve you alone. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.

Proverb for Today: Prov. 3:5-6
"Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways..."

New Testament for Today: John 4:21-24

21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
In Context: John 4:1-42

Recommended Reading:
Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman