Closing the Doors

2Chronicles 33:10

10And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.

Manasseh had become king of Judah when he was only twelve years old and he was king for more than fifty years. Manasseh played both sides of the coin. He built alters to pagan gods, practiced soothsaying, witchcraft, sorcery and visited mediums and spiritists. He also built alters in the house of the Lord and carved idol images. Because of this, the Lord, not Satan, brought affliction upon all of them. Manasseh was the leader and he led those under him into ways that were not of the Lord also.

We are the most stubborn children of our Lord. Yes we, meaning you and I. We are very stubborn when it comes to listening to our Heavenly Father. We all love going our own way.  But going our own way doesn't just put us in jeopardy, it puts those under our care in harm's way also. How many people visit palm readers, psychics, tarot card readers, mediums, etc? These practices are what the Lord is talking about. Doors are open to places that should not be open in your life. When the Lord says close the doors He means it. Opening doors such as these while in the house of the Lord actually opens you and those around you to demonic influence, disobedience and harm. It's like a vicious cycle. And sometimes the only way for our loving Father to break the cycle is to send something to knock you off your feet. Practicing any of  these things makes our Father jealous because He created us to worship Him. When anyone starts worshiping these false gods, it means you have put something before Him.

In the end, Manasseh came to himself, repented and asked for God's help. And guess what? He did.  Our Lord can do the same thing with you. Are you dabbling in things and with people who practice them that shouldn't be? Repent and turn and the Lord will forgive you.