Who you listen to and learn from makes a difference
hopefully you choose the right voice to guide you…
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. ~2 kings 21:1-6, 2 chronicles 33:1-6~
what’s striking in these verses are how young these men are when they become king. when you look back at how you and i grew up, how many of us could ever think about leading a country, let alone a state or city. knowing how impressionable we were at that age, who were the people influencing, teaching, and raising them, young boys who had still so much to learn about life, about everything.
one part i can understand as manasseh lost his father, hezekiah, and didn’t have him around to guide his life. what’s startling is that he forgot all that was taught to him up until he became king, all that was done to follow and honor God. when my dad left our family, while it wasn’t a physical death, it was still impactful because i had no male role model to follow, to instruct me with real life skills. while i may not have been in position as a ruler as manasseh was at 12, i still know the impact of not having your dad around is considerable and the impact it has on you throughout your life.
as manasseh started to do all these abhorrent things, actions that angered The Lord, who were the people around him that filled his mind with that crap, to go against what i imagine hezekiah would have raised him up to know and believe and practice - to honor The Lord, Our God, in word and deed. unless he had a twisted mind from when he was younger, someone taught and reinforced all those detestable practices and ideologies.
in my elementary and middle school years, i did have a solid foundation that was laid that i do know had an impact on me later in life - hearing about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit (back then, Holy Ghost), The Bible. if i didn’t have this, i feel i would have drifted off further in my hedonistic and debauched lifestyle. what i realized is that i was no better than manasseh whether i had ruled a nation or have people killed as he did. i knew what was right and did wrong.
decades later, those early lessons of who God is, how much He loved me/us, the ultimate sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, and giving us hope, and much more brought me back to Him. i now have a life that has meaning, am able to be used for Kingdom purposes and not of my own selfish desires. do i still need work and improvement, yes, very much so and i have only God to thank for not discarding and getting rid of me when that is what i deserved.
dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving on and giving me a new life. teach me your ways that i may follow you all the days of my life and not drift into eternal damnation. may what i do, say, and think about you and myself be a reflection of my gratitude and love for you. in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!