Tear down the high places in your life

"And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places" (2 Kings 15:3-4).

Before the Israelites conquered the promise land the people that occupied it before them built shrines to their gods on high hills. These pseudo worship centers are called “high places” in the Old Testament. When the Israelites came into the land they were commanded to destroy all idols and places of false worship but they failed to do so. The high places were to be removed so that they would not become sources of temptation. But because they were not removed some of the people were foolishly drawn to them and drifted away from God. It’s been said, he who would not fall ought not to walk in slippery places. Too often Christians today run after the high places (fame, money, prestige) of this world that promise peace, happiness and security. But rather than finding what they thought they would they forfeit the peace and security that only God could give if they would seek him with their whole heart.

An idol doesn't have to be a physical image or statue that we bow down to. An idol can be anything that you seek after to please yourself at the expense of displeasing God. For example, David sought after Bathsheba, who was another man wife, to gratify his sinful desires. After he found out that she was pregnant he did everything he could to cover his sin including murder. He was more concern with his own reputation before man rather than his condition before God. At this point in his life he was a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. After Bathsheba's husband died David went ahead and married her. When it was all said and done the bible says, "And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD" (2 Sam. 11:27). Concerning the children of Israel the Psalmist wrote, "And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them" (Psalm 106:36).

Let me say it again, "an idol can be anything that you seek after to please yourself at the expense of displeasing God. The idols that we seek in the high places of this world promise much but pay very little. In fact they lead to moral decay and enslavement. We must remove and tear down the high places in our lives and seek God with are whole heart. When we do we will find that his "lovingkindness is better than life" (Psalm 63:3). When we put God first in our lives we will find that only he can meet the deepest longing of our heart and satisfy our hungry souls. "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness (Psalm 107:9). Tear down the high place. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8).

The high places also became alternative places of worshiping God to the Israelites. Rather than offering sacrifices and burning incense in the temple where God manifested his glory, they turned to the high places. But it didn’t take long before they were back to worshipping heathen gods in these alternative places of worship. Although the Israelites and some of their leaders failed to remove the high places that led to great compromises, there were other leaders that did faithfully remove them. Hezekiah was one such King. Notice the testimony of Hezekiah: “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. 4He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 5He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. 6For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. 7And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not” (2 Kings 18:3-7).

Because of the corrupt worship that went on in these high places great kings like Hezekiah enacted religious reforms that attempted to make Jerusalem the center of worship where the worship of God could be better kept under the authority of God's word. (2 Kings. 18: 4, 22; 2 Chron. 31: 1; 2 Kings. 23; 2 Chron. 34: 3; Deut. 12: 11-14). Today we have churches (high places) that are being planted by disgruntled church members that leave their home churches for unbiblical reasons. These churches have no biblical authority to be planted and as a result the blessings of God is forfeited (Acts 13:1-5).

We’ve also heard it said too many times, “I don’t have to go to church to worship God. I can worship God at home just the same.” Your home should be a place where God is worshipped but it should never become a high place or substitute for being actively involved in a local church. God ordained the church to be his agency of authority on this earth to carry out his kingdom business of making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20; Eph. 4:11-16).

Tear down the high places in your life and worship God in Spirit and in truth.