RETURNING FOOTWEAR

⁴ Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel…

Hosea 1:4a (NIV)

I’ve got this questions swirling around in my head this morning:  Is it possible to obey God and sin at the same time? 

I bought a pair of shoes one time.  They hurt my feet real bad.  I felt like something at the heel wasn’t right and it would rub against the back of my foot.  I went to return them.  The lady seemed to be having a real bad day.  My shoe problem didn’t seem to help the situation.  She informed me that the return policy is that already worn shoes can’t be returned.  I understood and explained to her (again) that I’m returning them not because I don’t like them but that something was wrong with them.  She rubbed the heel with her fingers.  She said she couldn’t feel anything wrong with them.  I explained to her that she can’t expect to feel the rubbing on her heel when she’s not wearing them.  She wasn’t budging.  Nor was I.  She became rude and somewhat insulted me.  Something along the lines of people like me wearing things and returning them…she’s not allowing it this time.  My thought was, “People like me?  Who?  Pastors?  What a horrible bunch.”  I did the best I could to not lose my salvation…which wasn’t easy.  But I eventually left with a pair of shoes that didn’t hurt.  I got in the car and sat for a moment.  I wasn’t satisfied.  So what did I do?  I was back in the store.  “What do you want now?” she asked. “I’d like to contact the store manager.” I said.  “I am the store manager,” as she pointed to her name badge that said, “STORE MANAGER.”  I then said, “I want the district manager or the regional manager.”  Her response, “What are you complaining about?  You got exactly what you were asking for.”  Which was not entirely true.  I never asked for attitude which I got.  I never asked to be insulted which I was.  Yes, I got my shoes but all with the wrong attitude.

What’s the lesson?  God tells Hosea to name his first son Jezreel (a prophetic object lesson for Israel) because King Jehu massacred 70 sons of Ahab in Jezreel and God was readying a punishment.  Here’s the kicker—God told Jehu to kill the sons of Ahab.  And on top of that God was pleased with him accomplishing the task.  He obeyed and did what was asked of him.  The only problem was his motive was wrong.  He did what God asked him to do but for his own purpose:  Politically securing his own reign.  You can obey God and sin at the same time when your motive isn’t to honor God but please or further self.  If we do the will of God for any reason except at the command of God, we’re doing our own will and not God’s.

For the story of Jehu read 2 Kings 9-10.

Questions to consider:

What good acts in your life easily can be done with bad motives?

How do you change bad motives?

Can God bless bad motives?