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1 Kings 22:43 "[Jehoshaphat] walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord; yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places."

 

Jehoshaphat was a good king, he did not turn from God, but he had a blind spot for the high places where people were practicing idolatry, or maybe he did not see them as much of a threat. In either case, he did not root them out and thus help his people, and himself, to grow in holiness. He would have been a better king had he paid attention to and done something about these places. 

 

I think we all have "high places" in our lives, things that we can work on rooting out in order to grow in goodness and holiness. It is not that we are worshiping them, they are not necessarily causing us to sin, but we would be better people without their influence in our lives. We can become complacent in our faith life, trying to stay in God's ways, but not willing to look at and work on things that are or could become problematic. Reducing the influence of these things, or even eliminating them entirely, can increase our holiness in ways we do not foresee, but sometimes we are just blind to them, or a little too attached to them.  I can think of several things in my life like this (for example, my phone, which is a go-to distraction). When I think about those things, I realize I am not ready to root them out entirely. Perhaps this reading today was meant for me to start thinking about ways of at least reducing their influence in my life.