Lessons from HIStory: One Bad Apple
Over the last month or so, I’ve been reading in 1 and 2 Kings each morning. But the past few days, I’ve really wanted to throw my Bible across the room after reading. How many bad, God-dishonoring kings can one nation have?? Every once in a blue moon I read about one that “did what was right in God’s eyes,” but that statement is so often followed by “except he didn’t tear down the sex & religion shrines.” There’s always that but following the “good” kings like a horrible shadow.
Then, inevitably, the next king, the “good” king’s son, “was as bad as Jeroboam son of Nebat who led Israel in sin.” What’s happening in those palaces that their children don’t know God or don’t want to follow Him? Is the “good” king so busy being zealous for God’s name in the country that he doesn’t have time or energy to lead his own children to know Him? Are the kids jealous of all the time and energy Dad gives away to his God?
I wonder if this failure to continue the line of “good” kings didn’t have something to do with that ever-prominent but in the lives of the kings. They did what was right in God’s eyes, except in this one little instance. I wonder if the kings just said, “you know what? Those shrines are way over there, and they’re not really bothering anybody. As long as I don’t actually see anything, we’re fine. I don’t need to worry about those little shrines.”
And yet, as my brother pointed out on our drive home for Christmas, “one bad apple spoils the whole bushel.” I had brought along a bag of apples for the trip that were probably on their way out, but I thought they were still good enough to snack on in the car. When I asked Kyle to reach back and grab me one, the first one he handed me had a huge bad spot on the top. When he saw what he had given me, he grabbed it back, then started digging through the bag. They were all bad. One bad apple spoils the whole bushel, indeed.
Were those sex & religion shrines the one “bad” thing the kings allowed to continue that eventually re-polluted the nation with the next king? If so, what is that one “bad” thing we continually turn our eyes against in America today? What are we Christians just so used to that we don’t think it’s that bad? And what one thing is going to trip up the next generation to come after us? What bad apple is waiting to poison our whole society?
And what are we going to do about it?
As a former University Resident Director, Career Counselor, Certified Personality Trainer, and high school Spanish teacher, Laura has quite the “scattered” background — with one underlying theme: education! She writes to teach and inspire women on topics related to faith, family, and lifework. She is also a resume writer, specializing in resumes for moms, career changers, and new graduates.
