2 Kings 18:16
At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
As good of a king as Hezekiah was, he had two major character flaws that eventually hurt his reign. One of those character flaws was that he thought if he gave the gold from the doors of the temple to the king of Assyria that the king would leave him alone. However, right after the king of Assyria received the gold, he sent messengers to Hezekiah and Judah to demand they give taxes to him so that he could care for them. To Hezekiah’s credit, this was the line that he stopped and said he would no longer move and surrender to the request of the king of Assyria. Hezekiah realized that there was only one thing the king of Assyria wanted, and that was total capitulation or their death.
Hezekiah’s great mistake was that he moved one time, thinking that if he moved, the king of Assyria would negotiate with him. However, when Hezekiah moved, he signaled to the king of Assyria that he would move again. Hezekiah did not learn that the first rule of negotiation is to get the other person to move. Because Hezekiah moved, the king of Assyria never stopped asking for movement because the king of Assyria never planned on moving from his stance.
My friend, Satan and the world always wants the believer to make the first move of compromise, but they never will reciprocate your move. The only thing the world and Satan will do is ask you to move again. It matters not what you give the world, it is never enough; they will always want you to move more. The best move any believer can make when it comes to compromising to reach the world is not to move at all. Let me give you some advice about compromise.
First, the world wants you to compromise so they can get your children to capitulate to their lifestyle. The world does not want you; they want your children, and this is why any movement of compromise is opening the door to losing your children. I cannot compromise because I love my wife and daughter. If I compromise at all, I open the door for the world to have greater access to them. The world is not so much after you as they are after your family. If you recall Pharaoh’s offer to compromise, you will remember that he wanted the children. The world always wants the children, so they get the parents to compromise, and the little movement opens the child’s heart door to the world. I could remind you of Abraham moving to Egypt for a short time, and he lost Lot. I can remind your of Naomi and Elimelech who only wanted to sojourn in the land, but stayed and lost their children. I can remind you of Dinah who only wanted to see the land, but lost her character and testimony in the meantime. Remember that the world always wants more than it is telling you.
Second, moving closer to God is the best move to the world's offer to compromise. The closer you draw to God, the further you remove yourself from the world’s offer to compromise. The answer to compromise is never to sit at the table of compromise with the world or Satan. If I never sit at the table of compromise with the world, I will never have to make the tough choice of whether or not I should move. Make up your mind that you will serve the LORD no matter what, and stick with it. If you make this determination, you will never find yourself facing the world’s offer to compromise.
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