July 4 - He Did Not Turn Away

Read today’s texts first: 2 Kings 15,16; Hosea 1; Hebrews 1

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

God does not judge us for the sins of our parents
or our children. 

Legacies are tenuous. It’s one thing to make a positive difference during our lives, quite another to inspire the next generations to follow in our footsteps. Jesus did it, but He is God. Great men like the Apostle Paul or Martin Luther King Jr. did. So did women like Mother Theresa, but what about ordinary folk, like you and I. I get the idea from Scripture that we all have some influence, during and after our lives, good or bad.

We see it with the kings of Israel and Judah. Some of the kings of Judah carried on their father’s good legacy, like Azariah: He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done (15:3). But all of the kings of Israel followed in the legacy of their first king, Jeroboam, and it wasn’t good, like Zechariah: He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit (15:9). Even the kings who assumed the throne through assassination, not lineage, followed Jeroboam’s sin pattern, like Menahem (5:18).

But not everyone follows in the footsteps of their parents. Ahaz was one of the most evil kings of Judah, to the point of sacrificing his firstborn to Molech’s fire, like the corrupt Canaanites (16:2-4). Yet, one of his sons, Hezekiah, ruled after him and did everything right, including finally tearing down the high places devoted to idolatry (18:1-7). Then after reigning well for 29 years (including a bonus of 15 extra years for good behaviour - 18:1-20:21), his son Manasseh, took over as king and stripped away every good thing his father had done (21:1-9). He became the worst king of Judah, out-sinning his grandfather Ahaz. But just when you have this story wrapped up in a neat full-circle of irony, Manasseh repents and God

But not everyone follows in the footsteps of their parents. Ahaz was one of the most evil kings of Judah, to the point of sacrificing his firstborn to Molech’s fire, like the corrupt Canaanites (16:2-4). Yet, one of his sons, Hezekiah, ruled after him and did everything right, including finally tearing down the high places devoted to idolatry (18:1-7). Then after reigning well for 29 years (including a bonus of 15 extra years for good behaviour - 18:1-20:21), his son Manasseh, took over as king and stripped away every good thing his father had done (21:1-9). He became the worst king of Judah, out-sinning his grandfather Ahaz. But just when you have this story wrapped up in a neat full-circle of irony, Manasseh repents and God forgives and redeems his mistakes (2 Chron. 33:10-17).

The moral of the story: legacies are tenuous. Everyone has the free choice to accept or reject God. As much as we would like to reduce the issue down to good or bad parenting, we can’t. Ultimately God does not judge us for the sins of our parents or our children. “Lord I am accountable directly to You and so are my children and grandchildren. But still, I want to do all I can to pass down a worthy legacy of faith for them to follow.”