They feared the Lord, but..

They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away. – 2 Kings 17.33

There is quite a conundrum here. The people of Judah feared the Lord, but they still had a problem. While they feared the Lord they still held on to their own gods. They were partly there, but they were not fully there.

The problems these people had are not unknown today. The issue is that even those who fear the Lord today can battle with our own false gods. We are new creatures in Christ, but we have the problem that that ‘new Roger’ still has to live in he old flesh and the old flesh is constantly crying out for attention. Sadly, New Roger far too often yields to the flesh of Old Roger and serves instead of truly following the Lord.

Paul wrote about this in Romans 7 where he talks about doing the things he knows he shouldn't do while he doesn't do the things he should.

It's is even worse because our flesh has no power over us. When we sin it is because we choose to do so. There is no one to blame but me. We are dead to the power of sin, yet we still can’t let it go because our flesh still demands gratification.

What’s the answer? Paul tells us at the end – a deep and firm reliance on Christ. Those of us who fear the Lord need to let those old gods go and get on with serving Christ.