Is It All About How I’ll End Up?

"All is well that ends well," the old adage goes. What a refreshing end to Manasseh's life; having descended even further than his heathen counterparts! I continue to be impressed with the theme of God's amazing Grace that characterizes all these stories. Indeed where sin abounds Grace doth much more abound. The Hoppers sing this wonderful song, "God's Grace is Greater Than All Our Sin." What a glorious hope of the change that awaits us yet!

But notwithstanding the encouraging end to Manasseh's life there's a very salient lesson to be learned from his experience: We must be careful of those moments of indiscretion that may have an effect on others even after we may have moved on from them. The text says that "Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them."  2 Chronicles 33: 22. Although we may justifiably argue that Manasseh should not only have removed the carved images, but destroy them as well; could their preservation be seen as symbolic of the impression and memory that our sinful indulgences  create in the minds of those who would have been affected by them? Remember this nursery rhyme - "Words, like eggs, should be handled with care, for words once spoken, and eggs once broken we can never repair" -? This is what obtains for some of our blunders. So is all well that ends well? Not entirely; there may be some tragic collateral damage along the way. By God's Grace, let us strive to be faithful.

Pastor Derek Morris, host of Hope Sabbath School and editor of the Ministry Magazine has this take on this issue of Manasseh’s failure to destroy the carved images, “What a lesson about eradicating sin from our midst. It was not enough for Manasseh to throw the idols out of Jerusalem. He should have destroyed them. It's not enough to put your past sinful activities in your garage or storage unit. Someone else might pick them up, like your own children, and be polluted by them. We shouldn't sell or give away things that defile. May God grant us courage to destroy everything that corrupts.”

This reading is based on 2 Chronicles 33.  To read and/or listen to this chapter and read other related blogs, please go here.