I just finished 2nd Chronicles this afternoon. For anyone familiar with 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles it can become a little redundant. "So-and-so was the king after so-and-so and he was wicked in the eyes of the Lord." or "So-and-so was the king after so-and-so and he was righeous in the eyes of the Lord, doing good like his father David had done."
The state of these kings really seems determined by one major thing: idolatry. The wicked kings seem to not worship God and set up asherah poles (whatever those are) and other shrines to foreign gods. The righteous, good kings smash down these altars and shrines. Hezekiah and Joash both remember the passover and invite all of Judah into that special festival in remembrance of God's deliverance. Good kings worship YHWH, evil kings forgot all about him and worshipped the same things as everyone else.
It makes me pause. From a bird's eye view, I would say my life is one in which I worship YHWH and give him all. But, honestly, the closer we get, the more we zoom in, the hairy things get. Maybe I'm a good king with a penchant for watching to much football? Perhaps I'm someones that smashes idols but just loves reality tv?
I don't know. I have trouble with things found either in the black or in the white. I tend to think real life is a lot more gray.
But I'm determined to my utmost to make this life a white one.
