And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not be like them. 2 Kings 17:15
People do not really like to be completely different from others. They like to blend in. Sometimes they like to blend in with a smaller group, while most of the time they like to blend in with the majority.
The blending in that they do is doing what others are doing. People will often do what others do, so that they can be friends or not looked at as rebels or strange. The amount a person will do is often determined by the pressure of others. With enough pressure, most people will do things that are wrong, and the world knows how to put pressure on a person to do something.
God had told the nation of Israel not to do what the nations around them are doing. Yet they did those things anyways. Various kings would be put into position, and they would follow false idols and lead the nation as the world does. After a punishment and short restoration, they would do those things again. God, after much warning and patience, destroyed the nation of Israel because of their lack of obedience.
Even today, God is still warning people not to live as the world lives. He tells His people to be separate, set apart from the world. Yet, many believers try to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. They do the things that the world does and try to say that it is ok and God still accepts them.
Even though Jesus died on the cross and forgives sins, God still says that believers are to be holy and set apart from the world. Many believers think that the things of this world are acceptable and support them–divorce, abortion, hatred, killing, porn, violence, abuse, vulgar talk, and much more.
As a believer, you are to turn away from all sin and the ways of the world. Jesus was set apart as different, and you are to be the same way.
There will come a day when Jesus will come back to judge the world. He sees the heart of every person. If your heart is following the world, it will not be following Him. If you are not following Jesus, you will not be allowed into heaven.
Whose ways are you following today?
I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will know the ways of God; that you will follow Jesus with your whole life; and that you will not do the ways of this world.
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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Insights from Tom
