Where are your high places?

In the early morning hours of the day I’ve been reading through the records of kings.

I’ve read these words many times before and always find myself wondering at the tug of war that Israel must feel - bad king, good king, bad king…and so on.

There is a repetitive language in these two books - perhaps more than any other book in the Bible. We see the theme of familiar lines…

“And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…”

“And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…”

This time on reading through there is one of those familiar phrases that catches my notice - something I hadn’t given thought to.

It’s said nearly every time right after the line for those who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. It says this:

“Nevertheless, the high places were not taken down.”

These high places are the places of idolatry, the places of evil worship - the literal cities that had been built for the purpose of sacrificing to a false God.

So many kings have managed to do what is right before the Lord and walk in His ways, but the Lord notices this - that the high places still remain.

I read it each morning and the words linger through the day.

And then the question comes to me quietly - “What are your high places?”

You see, upon further study I come to the understanding that for a king to walk in the way of the Lord is a difficult road, to be sure - but to take down those high places would fly in the face of their entire, evil kingdom.

This was the hardest thing of all.

And how many of them tried to clean up the mess of the last king the best they could without taking on the truest evil their kingdom really faced.

There’s an account of one king who even took it another step forward and spent his years on the throne enhancing the beauty of the temple so people would be drawn more towards the worship of God rather than these wicked high places. Perhaps an element of nobility in his effort?

But then I read this morning about a king who did it all - a king who devoted his entire life to the destruction of those high places.

It says there in the second book of kings that he even opened the graves of the priests who had offered these evil sacrifices and burned up their bones.

He quite literally left no stone unturned in his pursuit of the highest purity and worship to the one true God.

And what is recorded of him?

“There was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”

These words are familiar - recalling to our minds the very greatest command that Jesus states in the book of Matthew.

The calling is the same for us - as if he begs that we would follow in this man’s way of life - as if He’s inviting us into a way of living that goes beyond merely doing “what is right in the eyes of the Lord.”

These passages leave me with wonderings.

There is a way to live that does what is right before the Lord and there is a way to live as if the Lord Himself is worthy of your entire life and we all are more prone to leave the latter of the two for only the special few.

I am prone to lacking the courage to give up my high places.

We can walk it all out in a clean and righteous way while all the while there are literal cities being built up around the things that matter the very most to us.

I am capable of declaring worship to the God of the universe while all the while there are sacrifices being made within my little kingdom to the comforts I find most important.

I’m still asking myself the question - where are your high places, Amanda? What are the areas in need of destruction that I’m more prone to protecting?

Or am I the one trying to only enhance the noble areas of my life to draw even my own attention away from those places that take great courage to destroy?

Oh, that we all would long to walk in the way of King Josiah - who gave the entirety of his life to the purpose of purity.

Will you too ask the question - where are the high places?