"Good enough" is neither "good, nor "enough"

In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin. Nonetheless the LORD said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.” But Jehu did not obey the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. [2 Kings 10.28-31]

When Satan encountered and tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he actually quoted scriptures to Jesus. That's good, right?

Well, it is kind of like Jehu obeying God in eliminating the dynasty of Ahab. That was good... But!

Jehu's obedience to God was not complete. Jehu reserved at least some affinity for the gold calves Jeroboam had made. So, even though what Jehu did to wipe out Ahab and the Baal worship so actively promoted by Ahab, Jehu was not pure and complete in his devotion to God alone. He obeyed the "Word of God" but only as far as it served his own evil inclinations: the worship of the gold calves Jeroboam had made!

Satan has no problem with people partially obeying the Word of God. He will even quote scripture in his deceptive attempts to kill, steal and destroy (as he did with Jesus in the wilderness). However, Satan's quoting of scripture is always incomplete - it sounds good, but something is missing.

There exists a contingency of Satan who, being wolves in sheep's clothing, preach and promote happiness, faith and well-being because "God is good and therefore wants good for His people." It all sounds good and can be backed by numerous scriptures. However, nothing is said about God's judgment upon sin when happiness, faith and well-being are the goal irrespective of the responsibility of holiness! "Hucksters" boldly and gloriously proclaim the "goodness of God" but fail to mention His requirement of holiness. Just like Satan quoting scripture to Jesus in the wilderness and just like Jehu following God's Word in destroying the dynasty of Ahab, there remains a great deception in the world to use only what scripture serves our evil desires, and ignore the rest.

Consequently, people want to "praise and love God" while living in all manner of sin and perversion as if praising and loving God makes the sin okay. Well, it doesn't.

Here is the deal: Satan is a liar and deceiver who has no problem whatsoever with people quoting scripture all day long for the purpose of serving their own evil desires! His deception is not complicated: he simply encourages the use of just enough scripture to promote happiness but goes no further. And, it has been a highly successful, universal and timeless effort whose base motivation has remained intact since the beginning of time as we know it, "be happy." Satan's encounter with Eve in the Garden of Ede appealed to her sense of happiness.

I am sure Jehu enjoyed great satisfaction from completing God's Word to destroy Ahab's dynasty (and, what a great work it was!). However, what made Jehu think it was okay to keep the gold calves and the associated sin promoted by Jeroboam? It was the deception of Satan!

Far too many people today are enjoying happiness and praising God while openly practicing sin! Greed, perversion, divorce, self-exaltation, pornography, homosexuality, envy, unforgiveness, lust, hatred and even worse lie beneath the surface of so many who love and quote scriptures that forbid "judging others" but avoid the "tough scriptures" about personal holiness and responsibility. 

I am speaking here of what I know first-hand. I am guilty of allowing myself to be happy and self-fulfilled without a care about the rest of God's Word declaring judgment and damnation upon self-indulgences. The deceiver has deceived too much for too long. It must stop. There must be repentance so there might be forgiveness!

"Good enough" is neither "good, nor "enough." We either live by all that God requires of us, or we are in disobedient sin. This obviously includes our attitude toward faith as well. The prevailing opinion that having "just enough faith to be saved" is okay (without otherwise doing the works Jesus in the earth), is a cunningly devised deception of Satan. God never said, "I want most of your obedience." Anything, or anyone who promotes such is lying. And, for the record, faith is obedience. Obedience is all or nothing. Jehu's example proves it.

Father, forgive me for using any scripture to justify any degree of disobedience in my life. Make me keenly aware of the strategies of the enemy to deceive me into thinking and believing that good enough is good enough.