2 Kings 9:6
“Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.'”
Many men have been called and anointed by God for service. Unfortunately, too many follow the example of Jehu. He spent the beginning of his calling ridding Israel of those who had turned the nation against the Lord. One by one, his sword was a vehicle of judgment against the wicked leaders who went before him. Joram the king of Israel, Jezebel the queen mother, and Ahaziah king of Judah, were all slain for their wickedness, and crimes against the nation. After showing great zeal for righteousness in others, Jehu failed to show the same zeal for his own commitment to the Lord. After successfully using the sword against others, he allowed sin to run rampant in his own life. We read of him,
2 Kings 10:29 “However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan.”
One of the great dangers of Christian ministry is to become tolerant of your own sin, while focusing on helping to remove the sins of others. The devil is good at what he does, and what he does is deceive. He will spend great energies to get us to take the spotlight off ourselves, and only use it on others. The value of being in the Word of God daily, is that God will use it to probe into our lives and keep us on track.
Be careful to let God remove planks from your life, as He equips you to remove splinters from others (Matthew 7:3-4).
Pastor Jim
Often, when we know of a Christian friend who is stumbling in their walk with Jesus, we are not sure what to do. They may have gotten involved in an ungodly activity or into a bad relationship, or simply stopped investing into their relationship with Christ. We want to help, but at the same time we fear that saying something will be construed as “judging them.” Jesus gives us, in this passage, a keen insight into how to deal with one another in the body. When you see something amiss in my relationship with Christ, the first place you should look is inward. Is there anything out of place in your relationship with Christ? What you find must be removed. The Biblical way of dealing with personal sin is found in 1John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive . . . and to cleanse…” Once you have “removed the plank,” it is time to look outward to see how you can help me “remove the speck.”
Jim Gallagher 