Saturday, August 14: 1Kings 16-A legacy of sin.

The sad spiral of this chapter travels from bad to worse. It begins with Baasha who is judged for continuing the ways of Jeroboam and ends with Ahab who “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but” did even more evil (30-31).

It is not pleasant to admit but sin has a way of growing worse and worse. The sad tale of drug use shows that drug dependencies often grow to use of harder and stronger drugs. The same negative spiral can be shown for pornography. Sadly, our lives as humans are marred by the stain of Adam.  Sin comes naturally to us and if not checked, sin grows. One lie becomes 2, then 4, then a habit of lying.

What I see in this chapter is that a legacy of sin can be passed along as well. Even with regime changes, the new leaders continued in the sins of the previous regime. The real losers are the people ruled and directed by these men bent on sin, faithlessness, greed and all manner of godlessness.

My first thought is that we see shades of this travesty in various African and other countries which can never seem to climb out of the cycle of corruption leading to impoverishment of the people.

My second thought is that I need to guard my faith-life fiercely because my life legacy -good or bad- can, and likely does, impact others. How often we find in counseling rooms world wide, the sins of the fathers and mothers passed along -as if by heredity- to sons and daughters. And this chapter alerts me to the fact that my example can affect those beyond my family as well.

How I live matters.  It affects my life and through example and connection, others as well.

Lord, for the sake of my family and others. guide me into Your ways, lead me to Your paths, instruct me in Your ways… this I pray in the my Lord’s name, Jesus… Amen.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment