2 Kings 16

 Ahaz is the new king in 2 Kings 16.  He doesn’t get it either and “didn’t behave in the eyes of his God”.  I sort of like that description from the Message version.  It makes it sound like he knew what should happen, but he chose to disobey and test the tolerance of his God.  Well he finds out that was a bad choice as two enemy kings lay siege to Jerusalem.  Ahaz robs the Temple of its gold and silver and bribes the king from Assyria to come and save his bacon.  He does and frees them from the siege, but it cost the kingdom dearly.  Ahaz goes to meet the king of Assyria in Damascus.  This really struck me: “The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him”.  He immediately sends back the dimensions and asks Uriah the priest to build one like it to go in the Temple.  The point God made to me – Ahaz wasn’t looking for God.  In fact, he had been avoiding God.  But when he enters His presence, he is overwhelmed by God and has to deal with it.  We need to make sure we enter the presence of God.  It requires action on our part guys.  We can’t avoid the decisions that need to be made, the actions that need to be taken, if we are regular in our time with God.  Don’t run from the presence of God.  Intentionally go where you will be in fellowship with Him.  It is a spiritual discipline that will help keep us on the right path.  Don’t ignore it…….