Repentance or Compromise

King Manasseh's repentance vs. The people of Judah's compromise - 2 Chronicles 33:10 "And the LORD spoke to (King) Manasseh and his people, but THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN." The King and his people would not incline their hearts toward the LORD.

WOW! This is an open invitation for God's discipline. That is exactly what happened. King Manasseh was carried off to Babylon. Discipline is meant to bring us to repentance and by the way so is God’s goodness. Goodness was what he had shown but now it was time for the hammer. And Manasseh, implored the LORD "his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers."

Fascinating that Manasseh remembered God for himself. No one is ever so evil that he or she is beyond God’s reach. Manasseh also remembered how the LORD's mercy was seen in his family. He repented, based on the overwhelming consistency of God's longsuffering from generation to generation. He recognized, "that the LORD was God." He turned from his evil behavior and turned toward behavior that showed obedience to the LORD. "He took away the foreign gods...; and he cast them out of the city."

What about the people still immersed in wickedness? They "still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God." This does not mean idolarty necessarily, but they did not move from the temptation of idolatry. They did not practice worship as specifically directed by the LORD.

Remember doing God's commands your way may not lead to idolatry. Yet, it is a clumsy practice of righteousness. It opens the door for compromise, then sin. I'm asking myself, "what am I practicing in compromise to the exact instructions of the LORD? The things that matter to the LORD should matter to us.