Pul, also called Tiglath-Pileser

Scripture Saturday is here again! :)

I'm reading through 2 Kings right now, and several things have struck me as interesting as I am reading through the chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah (besides the title of this post, which was just something that amused me). As one reads through these chapters, and as each king is introduced, there is one characteristic that is always listed which goes one of three ways:
"He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord."
"He did evil in the eyes of the Lord."
"He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him."

Each of the kings was known, either righteously or notoriously, for how he followed the Lord. Even the kings who did right in the eyes of the Lord often had caveats, stating, "but they did not..."

It makes me wonder (not that I am a queen) how my history will be written. I hope it can start with "Teresa did right in the eyes of the Lord." However, I wonder how many "buts" will follow.

But she did not fully devote herself to the Lord. Instead she continued to commit such and such a sin...

But she did not obey the Lord by speaking what is pure, holy, noble, lovely, admirable, praiseworthy...

But she did not follow the Lord by sharing Christ with others in order to further the kingdom of God...

These are just a few of the "buts" that could be spoken about me. I am thankful, when I think of these things, to know that I am saved by grace and that God wants me to strive to change these things, but that He did not expect me to change them before I came to Him (because I cannot change them on my own). And that I am still a work in progress. And that He loves me enough to keep working with me and on me to change the things that are not pleasing to Him.