16TH OCTOBER

GOD’S INSTRUMENT BUT NOT SERVANT

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked,

for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

(Galatians 6:7)

Jehu said to Jonadab, “Come…and see my zeal for the Lord” (verse 16). He was definitely zealous but his goal was not defined. God chose and anointed him king over Israel as an instrument of punishment to Ahab’s evil dynasty. He fulfilled his mandate, destroyed all the male descendants of Ahab, as well as Baal worship. But he went beyond to carry out a senseless slaughter of all Ahab’s great men, his close friends and his priests. He allowed himself to be directed by his own personal ambitions and power without God’s consent. He allowed the same strengths and abilities that made him a suitable instrument in God’s hands to be used for evil.

We must willingly submit our strengths and abilities to be totally under God’s control and guidance to maximize our potential for God’s glory. Jehu became God’s instrument for carrying out justice against Ahab but he did not obey God with his heart and so was not God’s servant.

Disobedience has consequences.  “And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel” (Hosea 1:4).

ACTION: Seek to follow God completely with your whole heart and be called His child, not just His servant. 

PRAYER: Have your way in my life, dear Lord. Cleanse me of all self-will and disobedience.