2 Kings 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

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Jehu is a very unusual Bible character. None other than the great prophet Elisha had him anointed as the new King of Israel. Immediately after being anointed king, he goes to work fulfilling God’s prophecy of the extinction of the house of Ahab. In obedience, he goes out and takes out King Joram. In addition, he also takes out King Ahaziah of Judah who had come to visit Joram as he was healing of wounds suffered in a battle with the Syrians. He then continues on to Jezreel where he finally takes care of that wicked queen Jezebel.
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He then takes aim at the false religion of Baal. In his zeal for the Lord, he has all of the prophets of Baal brought together for a special meeting. He makes sure each and every one of them are in attendance. He then has them all put to death to cleanse the land of their false pagan worship and all the wickedness that came with it. Jehu seemed like a promising king, one that might finally bring the northern kingdom of Israel back to God.
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But in our verse, we see that it was not to be. You see, Jehu enjoyed doing the work of the Lord, that part which involved something he was good at. But once he was done with that, the things that were really important to God, following His Word and living His way, were things that he was just not very interested in. His zeal for God did not venture past the actions he took and the work that he did, to reach down into his everyday life. He took no heed to the Word of God and gave no diligence in following God’s commands.
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All that we do in our service for God must be firmly grounded and rooted in God’s Word. It must be the byproduct of the life of one who walks with God. Extreme and unrighteous actions have taken place in the name of religion, acts that had no basis in God’s holy eternal truth. Being zealous about doing anything for God is nowhere near as important as being faithful to the Word of God. Our service should always be connected to our sanctification.
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How easy does it become to excuse our wrong actions or motives because of something we feel we have done for the Lord. If we are going to produce anything of any value in our service for the Lord, it must be built upon the foundation of a life dedicated to God’s written Word. I heard a statement many years ago which has stuck with me, “God is more interested in his workers than he is in their work.” The reason this is true is because if you are the type of Christian you should be, you will do the type of work that you should. Work and worship go together.
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We should never feel that we have to choose between time in doing the work of God or time in the Word of God. These two do not compete with one another, they complement one another. These two are not in conflict against each other, they are in agreement. I encourage you today to serve the Lord with all of your heart and with all of your energy. But I also encourage you to grow in your faith and be faithful to your daily time with the Lord. I do not believe in a works-based salvation, nor do I believe in a works-based sanctification. If we want to work successfully for the Lord, we must walk with Him.