But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 10:31
My wife wouldn’t want me to write about this, but she’s not awake yet so, I can tell you that we once had a problem with mice in a cabin that we owned. When we discovered the first mouse, she was ready to sell the place. When we discovered multiple mice, she was ready to burn it down. It was a wonderful cabin with many features that we loved. The mice were, in the grand scheme of things, a small, fixable problem. That small problem though, until it was addressed, ruined the experience. No matter how great of a cabin it was, that small problem outweighed all the good. Burn it down.
I felt like that about my drug addiction. I know I wasn’t being reasonable at the time, but when my addiction came to light, I felt like it was given an unfair weight in the assessment of my life. I was a good physician who’d done a lot of good things. Then, there was this one issue that blew up and outweighed everything else. It was like I’d never done anything else. All that mattered was the drug use. Looking back, I can see that it was a huge deal and that others were quick to forgive and give me a second chance. At the time though, it felt like this one part of me was overemphasized, while everything else was forgotten.
Sin is like that though. Tolerating one “little” indiscretion can be life-defining. That’s the lesson of today’s passage, which sums up the reign of King Jehu, who was careful to follow God . . . except in worshipping the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan (2 Kings 10:29). For the most part, Jehu did good, but he tolerated one little sin. I’m sure it seemed like a minor indiscretion to Jehu, but that “little” sin was a stain on his kingdom, which had profound consequences, as In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel (2 Kings 10:32).
We may find it unfair, but little details aren’t always so little. A man can do good work his entire life, but if it’s later discovered that he had a years-long affair, all the good he ever did becomes overshadowed by that sin. If we counted them up, the good deeds would far outnumber the bad deeds, but that one sin stains everything.
We like to think we can get away with little sins, hiding them, but even if no one ever finds out, our little sins affect our relationship with God, which is the most important thing about us. If we damage that relationship, the consequences permeate our entire lives. Little sins aren’t so little and if we desire the life which God intends, we must not tolerate those things we know that God wants us to abandon.