Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

2 Chronicles

Desire to Be Holy

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Martin Llyod Jones once said, “If you do not desire to be holy, I do not see that you have any right to think that you are a Christian.” That’s the kind of truth we no longer hear from our pulpits. There was a time when men of God would proclaim God’s Word and its difficult but unassailable implications to nourish the souls of their congregants.

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The vast majority of preachers today know nothing of this kind of preaching, but fall into the category of those who love to tickle itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3-4). They say what people want to hear to make them feel a little better about themselves. A message imploring personal holiness is all but unheard in our churches today.

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Are We Really Any Better?

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As you read the Bible, it’s easy to shake your head at some of the characters. We think we would never behave that way or make the choices they did. Knowing what we know of Jesus today, I think it’s easy to be confident we would react better if we were in their place. Let me assure you, none of us would. I know this because I know myself and I know what I observe in others every day.

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Perhaps our actions are even worse than those of our ancestors. We have the complete Word and revelation of God in our hands and our native language (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This phenomenon is only a few hundred years old. None of those we read about in the Bible had access to the Word like we do. Despite that, our commitment to Jesus is no better than theirs.

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Revival Starts Within

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Why do we get so angry when those without Christ commit sinful acts and implement sinful policies? They are unrepentant sinners. What else would we expect them to do? A better question is why aren’t we who know Christ more angry with our lack of devotion and actions for His Kingdom? It’s very easy to see the specks in the eyes of others but difficult to notice the logs in our own eyes (Matthew 7:3-5).

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Our world is spiraling into evil and darkness, causing no small amount of hand-wringing from those of us who long to see all people repent and acknowledge Jesus as the Lord He is. While it is right to call out sin intending to point people to Christ, we must never forget that any revival must first begin in the hearts of God’s people.

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High Places

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As you read through the history of the kings of Israel and Judah in scripture, the first thing said about most of them is whether or not they served God. The next thing you read is what they did about the high places in the land (2 Kings 18:4, 23:8; 2 Chronicles 14:3, 31:1). These high places were where the Canaanites worshipped their pagan gods before Israel took possession of the land God promised to Abraham. To keep these places of worship intact represented rebellion and a lack of faith in Yahweh.

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Often the people would erect Asherah poles atop the high places to worship Asherah, the supposed god of fertility and nature. Both the high places and Asherah poles were detestable to God, so the best kings tore them down. Lesser kings let them stand and they became stumbling blocks for the nation. There is more than a history lesson in all this, but also a stark warning for each of our lives.

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Courage

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While I’m uncertain whether the tradition continues today, for years, the cadets at West Point would recite this in their Sunday chapel: “Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. Never be content with half truth when whole truth can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth are in jeopardy.”

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What if we had such zeal for the Kingdom of God? Isn’t it our duty to uphold the same things for the sake of the cross? If brave men and women can have that kind of commitment for a temporal country here on earth, shouldn’t our commitment to the eternal Kingdom be far greater?

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