And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’S people; between the king also and the people. (2 Kings 11:17 & 18)
My house is kind of strange. My driveway is on the side of the house, not the front; and so is the garage. As a result I seldom enter through the front door, but almost always come in through the garage. Like most of you, periodically I have to clean my garage because it gets full of junk. I am amazed how stuff begins to pile up in there. It doesn’t happen overnight, but gradually there will be so much clutter in there, that I can’t stand looking at it anymore, and I am forced to clean it out again.
The Kingdom’s of Judah and Israel were the same way. A good king would come along and clean the nation out spiritually, and morally. However, years would go by; people would perhaps let down their guard; and slowly, gradually, all of the junk of the world and the devil would creep back in. The situation would get so bad that God’s people would realize how far away they had gotten; and they would have a good “Spring Cleaning”.
My spiritual life and the spiritual life of my family is the same way. It needs a good cleaning periodically. Thank the Lord that He allows us to come to Him whenever we fail and confess our sins to Him; and we are cleansed. However, we also need to remove some of the weights from our life that cause us to get “cluttered” in the first place. What junk do you have in your spiritual garage that needs to be taken to the dump?
Today'sPassage - 2 Kings 10 - 12 Second Milers also read - Luke 13 – 14; Psalms 141 – 150; Proverbs 29 "Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel." - (2 Kings 10:28) "And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down;…
Pastor Phil Erickson has been the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church since January of 2002. Having grown up in Ocean County, Pastor Phil has always had a burden for the south Jersey area. After graduating from Bible College in Longview, Texas, he and his family moved to Galloway Township with the vision of digging in and serving the Lord and the people of Atlantic County. Pastor Phil and Cindy Erickson have been married since 1985. They have four children and ten grandchildren. Their oldest son, Phil Jr. and his wife Katelyn are serving the Lord in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. Their oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to Wesley Clayton who is in the Air Force and is currently stationed in New Mexico. Samantha, their third child, is married to Justin Mears and they are both serving the Lord at the church in Galloway. Hannah, the youngest, is married to Lucas McCollum, and they are also serving here in Galloway. In preparation for ministry, the Lord led him through a variety of educational experiences that have equipped him to serve the Lord and His people. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgian Court University, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Pastoral Theology from Texas Independent Baptist Seminary (formerly Texas Baptist College), a Master of Religious Education in Bible from West Coast Baptist College, and a Master of Biblical Studies from The Crown College. More recently, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Counseling and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Veritas Baptist College. He is thankful for these opportunities to study God’s Word more deeply, and counts it a privilege to use whatever knowledge the Lord has given him for the building up of His church. In addition to pastoring, the Lord has given Phil the wonderful privilege of teaching as an adjunct professor at Vision Baptist College in Berlin, NJ and Veritas Baptist College.