Respect

"And Elijah said to the king, 'This is what the Lord says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.'" II Kings 1

As the substitute teacher attempted in vain to restore order in my 7th grade history class, I allowed myself to enter into the growing chaos. Many of us kept messing with each other and largely dismissed the sub as irrelevant. Unbeknownst to us, however, he was writing names down with great precision for our regular teacher. Upon returning to school on Monday, our teacher read all the names on the list. One by one we were called to the hallway to receive our well-deserved swat. 

Ahaziah, the king of Israel, and his people needed a hard lesson in respect as well. I'm sure any of the characters in the story would have gladly taken a swat instead of the death penalty they received for their disrespect. The king had responsibilities to ensure the faithful pursuit of the true and living God, not little make-believe gods. He had countless chances to get it right and humbly approach God. His pride led him to become the example of what not to do. 

God loves us all. He extends grace to us all. His stated desire is that none of us would head into eternity separated from him. He paid a tremendous price in sending his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that we could be forgiven. The path to salvation and peace with God is before us all. We can go anywhere other than him for answers. We can attempt to make demands. Or, we can humbly and respectfully recognize that God is God and we are not. The road to life is narrow and few are those who find it.

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