"Pet" Sins

       King Jehu was an interesting person. He was the king of Israel for 28 years, and during his reign, he was on fire to do God’s Will. When Jehu was anointed King, he began to “clean house” when it came to the descendants of the evil King Ahab who ruled before him until his death.
          First, King Jehu killed King Ahab’s sons, Joram and Ahaziah. King Ahab was already foretold of this even by the prophet Elijah in I Kings 21:21-22. Sure enough, as soon as Jehu got Joran in his sight, he drew back his bow and arrow and shot Joram in the chest and killed him. To further prove his point, Jehu had Joram’s body thrown into the vineyard  that King Ahab had its owner, Naboth, killed over, in order to possess it (I Kings 21:16). Jehu also had Ahab’s son, Ahaziah, and his other children killed, as well as his wife, the evil queen Jezebel. By doing so, Jehu completely destroyed any possible heirs of the wicked king Ahab from ever taking control of Israel again (2 Kings 10:6-17).
          After this was done, Jehu began to work on getting rid of idoltry in his kingdom. His sole purpose was to destroy the false god, Baal, and its worshippers. He did this by having all of the prophets of Baal and other worshippers come to him. After all of the worshippers of Baal came into the house that the false god was kept in, Jehu had every single worshipper killed, all of the statues and images of Baal broken and destroyed. For his grand finale, Jehu had the house of Baal torn down and turned into a public toilet (2 Kings 10:27).
          Jehu showed great courage and made great sacrifices to fulfill God’s Will. We can say that Jehu abounded in good works when it came to ridding his kingdom of the evil influences of Satan. However, even though Jehu had done many, many great things for the Lord, he still did not “walk in the law of the Lord God of Isreal with all his heart” (2 Kings 10:31). This was because, even though Jehu was very willing to speak out and act against the sins of worshipping Baal, he chose to turn a blind eye toward the worship of golden calves.  In other words, since Jehu stood against some sins but not all, he was still not totally faithful to God. As a result, Jehu caused Isreal to commit sin as well, and God allowed other kingdoms to punish Israel. He also began to cut the Kingdom short, due to his unfaithfulness (2 Kings 10:32-33).
          We can learn much from the sad story of King Jehu. He was a man who had done so much for the Lord, only to fall short in his faithfulness due to his choice to overlook his “pet” sin.
“Pet sins” are sins that a person either chooses to overlook in others or ones  that he or she continues to participate in, because he or she enjoys doing them and does not want to give those particular sins up.  How many Christians today are like Jehu, in this way? They will very quickly and willingly speak out against sins such as fornication, profanity, homosexuality, drunkeness, and so forth, but at the same time, they are secretly holding onto to some other kind of sin, or they are condoning these sins in indirect ways themselves.
    For instance, some Christians may speak openly against lust, but dress immodestly themselves. Others may work to help those who are alcoholics to get help for their addiction, but participate in social drinking themselves. There may also be Christians who would never want someone to use profanity, commit fornication, or participate in other lewd acts in front of themselves or their familes, but yet are perfectly fine with watching and listening to these things on T.V. programs, movies, and the radio.  
          We are commanded to do good works for God (Revelation 14:13). However, along with doing good works, we are to be obedient in all things (Matthew 7:21). God will not let us into Heaven due to the works we did for Him in our lives if we are not faithful and obedient in ALL aspects of our lives.  “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23). In other words, if we choose to stand against some sins, but look over our own pet sins, then we will fall into the same trap that King Jehu did. He worked so much to stand against some wrongdoing, while ignoring certain wrongs with which that he was perfectly fine. This made him wrong like a person who accepts all sins. We cannot be like Jehu and go to Heaven, because no sin can enter into Heaven (Revelation 21:27). That is why so few will enter into Heaven.   “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14). Instead, we should be like the apostle Paul, and do all we can every day to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
 
 

---