As I said yesterday, there are times when harsh measures are unfortunately necessary because of a harsh situation. When it came to harsh measures, Jehu was just the man for the job. If God had a physical face, we would have seen it wince when he chose Jehu to execute his judgement on Ahab’s family. Jehu was called by God for a nasty task, but Jehu seemed to like it a bit too much. God had a purpose for all this bloodshed and, whatever Jehu’s motives, God sovereignly fulfilled this purpose. For Jehu, however, it was all about securing power. The problem was that he could pursue his personal ambition while feeling smug about his divine calling. Jehu made great displays of religious zeal, but this was just a cover to justify his own motives in all the killing. Yes, Jehu served God’s purpose, but he himself was far from being a man after God’s heart like David was. He served God’s purpose in spite of himself. In fact, his personal agenda, was all the more effectively hidden because of his sense of divine call. It is a powerful lesson for us. We must never assume that we are in a good spiritual state just because God uses us to achieve his purpose. God can use anyone at anytime to do anything he wants. When God works through you, don’t let it go to your head. Just because you are doing the right kinds of things does not mean that your heart is in the right kind of state.
Ask God to test your heart and make it true.
Read 2 Kings 10
