Reading… and Thinking

   Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel.
   It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.”

— 1 Kings 21:25-29 (NASB)

After the murder of Naboth and seizure of the vineyard Ahab coveted, the Lord sent Elijah to pronounce judgment – not only would Ahab himself die violently, but his entire house would be obliterated. Elijah brought the message. The chronicler then inserts the parenthetical comment quoted above, that there was never anyone more vile that this man Ahab. And yet, he repented, and the Lord heeded his repentance.

Ahab went back and forth. After the contest on Carmel, he seemed to be pretty faithful. But then he wanted something (the vineyard) and let Jezebel gain it for him by murder. As noted in this passage, Jezebel incited Ahab to much of his evil. But on the other side, Elijah and other prophets were able to bring out a better side, from time to time.

There are a couple of powerful lessons here. First of all, Ahab was not a wimpy guy who could be pushed around by anyone. He was a strong and successful ruler (from a human perspective). But even a king can be influenced. What does that say about us? Every one of us can be influenced by those who are close to us. We therefore need to be careful in our choice of associates. Ahab welcomed a foreign woman, an idolater, into his life – and she influenced him very strongly. If we are married to, or even close friends with, someone who rejects God, what will their influence be on us? It won’t be for good!

Another lesson is that we shouldn’t write off our ability to influence others. We do have an effect on those around us, for good or otherwise. We must be extraordinarily careful that we don’t take the Jezebel role, and lead someone else to do wrong! On the other hand, we may be surprised to find that we can influence the most unlikely people, to help them turn to the Lord. Who would have thought that Ahab would repent?

In the end we are each responsible for our own actions. We can’t blame others for our failings, or take credit for someone else’s faith. But, it remains true nevertheless that we influence others, and we are influenced by them. The first step we need to take is to simply understand that the influences are there. The next step is to do everything in our power to maximize the positive influences and minimize the negative—both in our influence upon others, and in theirs upon us.