Today’s Reading, 2 Chronicles 28 & 2 Kings 16-17
Focal Scripture: 2 Kings 16:11 “Uriah built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz sent from Damascus. Therefore, by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus, the priest Uriah had completed it.”
Compromises can happen quickly in a persons life. Most people will tell you that they would never be tempted to be compromised. My argument is that most people haven’t been tempted by the right thing to see if they would compromise. For instance, if being popular or famous doesn’t matter to you no temptation in that area would cause you to compromise what you believe. However, if you are going through financial difficulties that impact you and your family severely you might be surprised at how quickly you compromise to take care of them.
In today’s reading we see a priest that comprised his beliefs and his duty to the Lord. Uriah built an altar at the request of the king. The king got the idea and the details of the altar from a pagan culture he saw in a foreign country. Uriah knew this a violation of his duties. He knew this would compromise his responsibility. However, he did it anyway. Why? He feared the king more than the Lord. He compromised his convictions to save his life.
Now before you give Uriah a hard time and say you would never compromise what you believe just know we are all one decision away from a compromise. How does that happen? It happens because of pride. Compromise happens in the life of a person who believes that they can’t be tempted to fall.
Every person I know who has compromised can look back and point to their pride. They got to a point where they relied on themselves instead of the Lord. They put faith in their skills and abilities and left no room to trust God. Then the compromises started in their life. It wasn’t big compromises at first, but it eventually turned into a compromise that hurt them or their testimony.
The challenge we have as believers is to prepare our hearts and minds for battle. To know that every decision matters. To know the enemy wants to see us fail and it starts with compromise. We have to be prepared to fight for the truth in everything we do on our lives.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Isaiah 13-17
