Jehu was quite a guy, wasn’t he? In the last chapter, we read how the prophet Elisha had sent one of his students, or sort of a junior prophet, to find Jehu in Ramoth-Gilead and say, “This is what the lord says: I anoint you to be the king over Israel.” At this time, Jehu was a commander of King Ahab’s army.

God had a mission for Jehu. Destroy Ahab and his entire family and anyone connected to him. Ahab was that bad.

So in today’s chapter, that is what Jehu did. In addition, he destroyed all who worshipped Baal, and the temple of Baal, which was then converted to a public toilet.

You think God has any tolerance for false religions? As most of you know, I am in the United States, which was founded in order that people would be free to worship in whatever manner they wanted, without the state being able to dictate a specific religion. Nothing wrong with that. God has given us freedom of choice, too. However, decisions have consequences. As long as we are given the information we need to make informed decisions, there is nothing unfair about living with the consequences of those decisions.

So the consequences for the Baal worshippers were carried out by God through Jehu, and God rewarded Jehu with the promise that his decedents would have the throne of Israel to the forth generation.

But interestingly, Jehu didn’t devote himself to following God’s law completely. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

And so God began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory, using King Hazael.

I believe that if we want God’s best in our lives, we should do everything we can to follow closely what God has called us to do. Jehu refused to do that. I don’t want my legacy to be: Steve Webb did some things that God called him to do well, but he refused to turn from these other things.

No. I am not at all perfect. I fail. Sometimes badly. But I don’t use that as an excuse to keep on sinning. God is doing a work in me, and I hope that by the time He calls me home those times of failure are few and far between. And I pray that it will not be said that I *refused* God in any way.

How about you?