And he [Azariah the son of Amaziah] did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done, except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. - 2 Kings 15:3-4
When was the last time you read Kings and Chronicles in the Old Testament? I have been reading the Bible in a year chronologically. It gives you an interesting perspective on the historical progression of the events recorded in the Old and New Testaments. What recently caught my attention was how many times I read "the high places were not removed". These high places were dedicated to idol worship especially among the Moabites. These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). The Israelites practiced Molech worship (involving child sacrifices) and built high places for Baal (a fertility god who helped the earth produce crops and people have children).
So many of the kings got so close to turning the nation to worshipping God, except they couldn't give up the high places. It was something of the natural that they held on to. As if giving God half of their heart was sufficient. That brought my mind back to the temptation we face as Christians today.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. - 1 John 2:15-16
That reminded me of Samuel confronting King Saul after Saul won a great battle. (1 Samuel 13) The Lord had told Samuel and Saul through Samuel what must be done before the battle was fought. Samuel left and when he returned discovered that Saul had not obeyed the Lord's direction. Instead he listened to the people and did what they wanted him to do. It wasn't that it was bad, but that it was contrary to what the Lord required. His actions revealed his commitment to obeying God. The penalty was that King Saul lost his anointing. King Saul was known to be a man who was half-hearted (not fully committed) toward God while his successor, King David, was called a man after God's own heart or devoted with his whole heart to God.
It is so easy for us to "give in" to the desires of our culture and to reject what God has made plain. When we are confronted by the Spirit - that's called conviction - we make excuses for why we did it and do not repent. Jesus called the Pharisees "White-washed tombs filled with dead men's bones"
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. - Matthew 23:27
Don't treat your faith like a vain religion. Where it is something you practice but have not devoted your heart to. Being a Christian is not like being an American. It is like being a human being. Pastor Tony Evans once said that Christian is not an adjective that modifies a noun - Christian is a noun that cannot be modified.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Christian, your old self has passed away - now you have a new identity. - New genetics - you are now a child of God. You have a new ethnicity and a new destiny.
... therefore .... by the mercies of God, ... present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. [in light of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross for you] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. - Romans 12:1-2
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