In any contest, sporting event or game there is a victor and the vanquished. The conqueror and the conquered. In any argument, fight or debate there is the triumphant and the dispatched. In any competition whether it be for the hand of a spouse, a spot in that university, or that next big promotion, there is one that will carry the day and others who will fall unsuccessful. Losing is one of those great humilities we must be forced to learn in this life. As I look back upon my life, I realize that some of my biggest and most valuable life lessons have come not at the hands of a massive victory, but at the hands of a bitter defeat. One of the characteristics I most admire is someone that can lose with dignity, honor, humility and style. For these people, the many guaranteed loses in life will not come as a shock, but instead be moments where they can show the humility of Christ to the world around them. A gracious loser can affect the world much more in their reaction to the victor, than the winner can in the prideful celebration of themselves.
But what about poor losers? What about someone that is not the first across the finish line, but they still refuse to believe the outcome? In their defiance they refuse to accept defeat; thinking that somehow their defiance will alter the hands of time. I’ve had friends like this in the past, so adamant about their selfish goodness that they honestly could not believe they could ever lose. Like that mighty river running through Egypt, they live a life in prideful denial. And at the source of this, as is everything in this life, lies the condition of the heart.
God’s Word mentions the heart 830 times in the King James Version. Just sit down and write the word heart 830 times and you’ll get a better idea of just what that means. God knows that we are internal creatures. That what lives within us will determine the quality of our lives. That besides just pumping oxygen and nutrient rich blood to our extremities, the heart can also pump God’s unconditional love and goodness deep into our cells. But as you can plainly see in our world today, different people have different hearts. Why? How can some people be so callous, difficult, and arrogant while others simply find an endless well of giving and generosity to draw from? Well, to make a difficult question seem simple, it’s merely a decision. Will you admit your defeat, or will you refuse the see that you are beat?
We have only 2 chapters left in 2 Kings and in them we see a monumental event unfold that has been building up for over 45 chapters. The constant disobedience of God’s kings and God’s people have driven God to judgement. In one of the biggest misperceptions of God in our world today, we paint God as a Heavenly entity that is only capable of love and nothing else. That God, in His great love, will be forced to allow any level of disobedience, sin and debauchery, because of that great love. The very opposite of what we practice in our much simpler, human love. Do you as a parent simply allow your kids to do whatever they please? Do you let them openly disrespect you, blatantly do things that you know will harm them, and all the while do it with selfish pride and arrogance towards authority? I sure hope not. You see, it is only out of your great love for your children that you will endure the hardships of disciplining them. Folks, there is a reason God refers to Himself as our Father over 1131 times in His Word…He loves us unconditionally as a Father and will correct us when we are wrong. He will rebuke us when we are disobedient Him. He will use the rod when we are openly defiant of Him and His laws for life. And all of this is not for our harm, but for our good.
The rod is what we see God use in 2 Kings chapter 24. Over 400 years of reckless defiance, prideful sin, and open defiance of God by worshiping other gods. We see God dealing with hearts that refuse to relinquish, refuse to repent, and refuse to admit they are beat. We see God forced to deal with hearts that are hard, bitter and angry. We see God unable to soften those hearts, forced into His righteous judgement. The Father is about to take the kids to the woodshed.
In God’s judgement the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, walks in with his huge army and sacks the city. He easily defeats a people that no longer have the protection of God. The army takes the gold, they take the precious instruments out of God’s temple, and they even take the people, 10,000 of them. It was the practice of the day to haul off the best people to the victor’s capital city. The educated, the leaders, and the skilled tradesmen were highly valued and would be greatly used by the victor. Only the poor, disabled, and elderly were left behind, seen as having little value to the opposing force. In fact, this is the very chapter that tells us how Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego ended up in Babylon.
But as Nebuchadnezzar departs with his spoils and captured people in tow, he leaves a king behind.
“And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that Jehoiakim had done.” “And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” 2 Kings 24:17, 20b
Even in pure and utter defeat, the king’s evil heart rebelled. Even as that heart saw the smoking debris of an empty, defeated city, he refused to believe he was beaten. Folks, a selfish, prideful, stubborn heart is one that cannot be unlocked from the outside. It can only be unlocked from within. Are you harboring a hard heart today? Do you read the Word of God and like water on a duck’s back, it merely runs over you but has no effect on your heart? Do your prayers feel hollow and empty like the echoes off a canyon wall? The effects of sin over a period of time will harden the softest heart. Prolonged exposure to sin and pride will take a soft heart for God and turn it into one that is hard as stone. To change that heart back to one of flesh, you must employ one thing…repentance.
Repentance is the key to unlocking a hard heart. The only key. And a repentant heart must start with admission. Admission that you are beat. That you can’t do it on your own. You can’t fight sin on your own, its just too powerful. Admit that you have lost to your own pride and ego. Give up the fight. Give in to the struggle of thinking this time it will somehow be different. Open up your heart to the love, care and peace of Jesus Christ. For it is only with an open heart to Christ that you will ever have the true victory. The victory over the death and destruction that all sin brings.
Today, refuse to live with a hard, bitter, argumentative heart. Stop fighting the world. Stop thinking you can win against a dark world that will continue to hand you defeat after defeat. Instead, give up and let Jesus change your heart. Let Jesus do your fighting today. For as you do, the victory is guaranteed.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
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