Bypassing God

Today: 2 Kings 1-3

I'll admit it--I bypass people sometimes.

I avoid work colleagues in the cafeteria when I know their projects fell to the bottom of my neverending, massive to-do list. I bypass short, middle-aged guys who show up alone at cocktail parties. I definitely bypass salespeople at mall kiosks selling Jessica Simpson-style hairpieces or lotion from the Dead Sea or both...in a weird combination kiosk called "Dead Sea Hair." (Just kidding--I don't think such a place exists, but I honestly wouldn't know...I completely avoid looking too closely at all mall kiosks!)

My reasons for bypassing people vary. Sometimes it's just because I'm in too much of a hurry. At other times, I avoid people because I'm embarrassed by my own errors (case in point: hiding from the colleague whose project I haven't tackled). In some cases, I bypass people to simply avoid awkwardness (apologies to the short, middle-aged guy). To seriously mess things up, I also totally bypass people I'd really like to talk to--which means I probably won't step out and mingle with a cute, friendly single guy at a party, either (unless he comes to talk to me first, that is!). And if I really screwed something up, I might try to avoid the people I love most--or even God Himself. That doesn't work well.

In today's passage, a king tried to bypass God. When he seriously injured himself, he sent off his messengers to consult with a false god about his health. And the real God wasn't happy about it. He showed up and showed His power. He knew what was going on. The king lost his life--partly because he ignored God and turned to an idol. God can't be bypassed. At all.

Why would a king even try to avoid Him? And perhaps more pointedly--why do you and I try to bypass God?

We can sometimes get away with bypassing people--I've become a pro at dodging mall kiosk salespeople. [No Dead Sea Hair for me! :) ] But God knows everything and sees everything. It's impossible to avoid Him, yet we often try--because we're busy, we're embarrassed, we feel awkward, we're ashamed or we think we're inadequate. That's goofy. God made us, God loves us and God knows everything about us anyway.

More than anything, He wants to connect with us. This may sound really lame, but it's kind of like He's the most incredible person at a party--who finds you in the corner and pulls you into His circle. In reality, His love is much greater than that! He laid His life on the line for us. Why would we even try to bypass One who loves us that much?!?

Tomorrow: 2 Kings 4-5