2 Ch 20:31-34

Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah.
He was thirty-five years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years.
And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not depart from it,
doing right in the sight of the LORD.

The high places, however, were not removed;
the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, behold, they are written in the annals of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat was a good king.
He followed the way of his father Asa.
He did what was right in the sight of the Lord.

Still, what about the people?

The people did not remove the high places.
Jehoshaphat did not make them.

We see this throughout the Old Testament.
The people held to the “high place” - places of idolatry and pagan worship.
They sought to “have their cake and eat it too”.

Why did they do this?

“The people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.”

A King could command, direct, instruct, mandate, etc.
But it would matter not if the individual did not seek the Lord.

The people worshipped, gave praise to God, etc. yet, they still worshipped in the high places.
The western church today does likewise.
We should not.

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