Zealous, but not Thorough

In 2 Kings 10, Jehu was anointed to be king over Israel. At the time of his anointing, he was commanded to wipe out the family of Ahab.

He set right out to do that. He assassinated Jehoram, Ahab's son who was reigning. After Jezebel had put on her make-up, Jehu commanded that she be thrown from the window. She died and the dogs ate all but her hands and feet. 70 sons were beheaded and their heads delivered in baskets to Jehu. The king of Judah and members of the Judean royal family were killed, because they were visiting the Israelite royal family. Jehu deceived the Baal worshipers into their temple and had them all executed, turning the temple into a latrine.

All of Ahab's descendants, his advisers, and the religious system that his wife had introduced were eliminated from the land.

Jehu was zealous for the work of the Lord. He had been given a command and he pursued it with passion.

"But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin" (v 31).

Jehu was zealous, but not thorough.

He wiped out the previous dynasty, but didn't devote himself completely to the Lord.

He wiped out the false worship of Baal, but not the false worship of the golden calves.

For whatever reason, Jehu fell short. It looks like he did what was necessary to secure his position as king, but he didn't follow the law of the LORD with all his heart.

It's easy for us to do the same thing. We do the things that are expected of us. We do the ministries that are seen. We're zealous about teaching, cooking, prayer, fellowship and activities at church.

But our actions at home when we're alone reveal that we are not walking in the law of the Lord with all of our hearts.

To everyone else we look like we're on fire for the Lord. Zealous about the things of God. Yet God knows our hearts. He knows the sins in our thought lives. He knows the sins in our homes.

We cannot fool God.