Why would you want to do a thing like that?

From II Kings 16 - 18:

1. Why would you want to do a thing like that? I wonder why Ahaz would decide that it was better to worship idols than to serve the living God. And what would possess him to decide that sacrificing his own son would be a good idea? But yet I see our country, bolstered by a great abundance of God's blessings, following the ways of the world. I'm not talking about Republican / Democrat (because people who think that electing one over the other is going to change the world are suffering from an illusion - we've tried both parties and yet the country continues to slide downhill), I'm talking about everyday citizens who have decided that immoral practices are okay (living together out of wedlock, homosexuality) and that their own pleasures are more important than God's will. This is a direct result of the church not having done the job of spreading the gospel. And that means everyday Christians. I'm also not talking about beating people over the head with a bible. Show them God's love. Show them the pure life that comes as a result of being in tune with His will. And be prepared to give an answer.
I hope that it is not too late for Christians to make an impact in this country for good. But many "Christians" want to legislate Christianity instead. (Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.)

2. I wonder what Hoshea - the last king of Israel - did that made him unlike the kings of Israel before him. See II Kings 17:2.

3. It is interesting to see that when the Lord sent lions in among the new settlers of the land where the Israelites had previously been, they immediately realized that they needed to honor the "god" of the land. That is why they had a priest come back and teach them about the Lord. Although they did not worship only the one true God, they identified the source of the problem immediately. I wonder why the Israelites could not have identified the fact that they were falling away from God as the source of their problems. Perhaps it was the same as today in our country - we have rejected God, so we cannot see our problems are due to this very fact.

4. One of my biggest hopes in life is that God could record of me the same as he recorded of some of the kings like Hezekiah. It says, "Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses." How cool would that be if God said there was no one like you among all the people of the US.

5. The king of Assyria's fatal flaw was that he thought that he was all powerful, when in reality we all know that only God is all powerful. He should have given the glory to God. But, since he did not, God chose to have mercy upon Judah and rescue Hezekiah and the nation of Judah.