Where Are Your High Places?

My internet access has been messed up, so in the few seconds I get online, I'm republishing an old post. Fresh ideas on the way when we're back up and running! Thanks for stopping by!

I've been reading in the O.T. and one thing jumps out at me. As Israel went through king after king--some good, some dreadful--they all had one thing in common. Besides the rare exception, every king who took the throne made the same mistake. Some of them were God-fearing, idol-stomping, sacrificing good guys. But even they, the Bible is careful to remind us, refused to tear down the "high places."

We aren't given much information about what these high places consisted of, but they were revered as altars to the gods. They were dedicated holy places. You would think that along with crashing up the statues and tearing down the idol temples, those kings would have gone ahead and torn down the high places to get it all over with at once. But they didn't. And it always came back to bite them.

It's obvious how this applies to us. Don't we have high places? Those areas of our lives where we think no one notices. That little dab of sin--whether in thought, habit, relationship, or activity--that we cherish, holding on to it while we tell ourselves we're sold out to the Lord.

"It's such a little thing," we think. "I'm doing everything else right. God wouldn't demand that too."

But he does. And the reason becomes painfully clear as you continue reading through the succession of kings and rulers of Israel and Judah. Quite often, the Scripture tells us that the next king--the son of the former--"Did not follow in the ways of his father, but did what was evil in the sight of the Lord."

I always wondered about that. If the king was such a God-fearing good guy, why was his son a jerk? He'd grown up knowing he would someday be king. He'd trotted along after Dad, watching how it was done. So if Dad was following God's ways and doing things right, why didn't the son naturally follow in his footsteps?

Could it be because of the high places?

By refusing to renounce all evil, all bad habits, everything displeasing to God, we are in fact telling the world that we are the ones in charge. God is a good idea, our lives state. But not the final authority.

What high places are still lingering in your life? What is it that you believe belongs only to you? You've instructed God to keep his hands off. This is yours.

Don't be shocked when it is that very thing that brings about your downfall--or that of your child.

You never know who is watching you worship at your high place. You never know the power those indulgences may have in your destruction. Is it really worth it?
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