I've been doing some "light" reading in Chronicles. Recently, in my journey of reading through the Bible this year, I've been coming across not a few kings in Judah whose lives, while being listed as “mostly good” as far as their deeds were concerned, were followed by the denunciation: Nevertheless, they did not follow Adonai wholeheartedly.
Amatzyahu was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Y’ho‘adan, from Yerushalayim. He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, but not wholeheartedly.
We had this whole discussion about it the other morning while we were having coffee on the deck, which got me thinking: “What does it look like to follow God wholeheartedly?”
Amaziah started off being a good King, but then he went into battle against Edom, and ended up bringing back their gods (by which I assumed is meant idols) and setting them up alongside YHVH, the one true living God.
After Amatzyahu returned from the slaughter of the people from Edom, he brought the gods of the people of Se‘ir and set them up as his own gods, prostrating himself before them and offering incense to them.
In what ways does God look at us and see us doing the very same thing?
I think if we are going to examine that, we're going to have to define what we consider a god, what we consider to be wholehearted.
In our western church and in our western society in general, there is such a syncretism - a blending of the sacred and the common. God called us to be set apart, but what does that actually look like in real life? We are a blend of cultures and traditions with a long history of adopting cherished practices which are generations removed from our pagan ancestors. In our eyes, we reason that those practices have been “redeemed” somehow, when in fact, Scripture says nothing of the sort. We as humans have been redeemed, but we are told to “put aside foreign gods”, the sins “which cling so closely”, and “renounce disgraceful ways”. We are quick to criticize the Pharisees, but we too “leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Does being set apart just mean putting on nice clothes and walking through the church doors one day a week? Is that really what it takes to be set apart? If so, we have millions of people doing just that but living their lives looking exactly like the rest of the world. So my question remains, what exactly are they set apart from?
Somehow I don’t think we define it the same way God does.
Moses outlined how clothing, decorative items, food, people, and even land could be “set apart for God”
Jesus said that he had been set apart for holiness, so that [we] too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth.
Jesus was set apart by his having been resurrected from the dead.
Paul calls us to offer ourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. He further says we are “freed from sin and enslaved to God” which “consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life.”
And why are we to be set apart? Ezekiel explains it:
…’The nations will know that I am Adonai ,’ says Adonai Elohim , ‘when, before their eyes, I am set apart through you to be regarded as holy.’
The whole reason we are to live our lives set apart, whole-hearted unto God is so that the rest of the world will see a difference in us - AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD. I am not saying we need to thump our Big Black Bibles in their faces and doom them to hell. Living a life set apart means just that: We Look Different from the rest of the world.
Everyone of us has our own list of things that pull us away from wholeheartedness. I could make a list, but that would be my list - and it’s most likely that the things I struggle with don’t even attract you, and vice versa. I think the question comes down to: what am I seeking, spending time on, wishing for, or worrying about that does not portray the Truth of Who God Is?
If we don’t know Who God Is, then we will have a hard time discerning those answers. I make it a practice while reading my Bible to use a blue colored pencil to highlight statements of truth about Who God is. As I do that, it helps form a clearer, more accurate picture of how God is portrayed in His Word - which is usually a whole lot different from how the rest of the world portrays him!
Following Him wholeheartedly just means to me that I need to be living my life lined up with the belief that God really is who He said He is, not what I think He should look like, what I heard from someone else that He looks like, or what the world says He looks like. The truth is: He loves me. He has a good plan for my life - but it does not have to line up with my expectations or desires, because He is God and I am not. Living anything different would be putting myself in His place.
I hope that in so doing, I will be able to say with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:
…:our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand… But if not… we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
And with Job:
“Though he slay me, I will hope in him…”
