Today's passages chronicled the reigns of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. What struck me was the impact of the decisions that each made. It reminds me of an old saying, tweaked a bit.."As the king goes, so goes the nation". The power that leadership wields in the course of a nation is chilling, and as true today as it was then. The northern kingdom started out with Jeroboam, who set the course for his entire nation when he established pagan temples, idols, and priests, simply out of fear of losing the allegiance of his people. Each king that succeeded him, was said to "follow in the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit". Each new king was worse than the one who preceded him, reaching new heights of evil during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel.
In the southern kingdom, beginning with Rehoboam (Solomon's son) and continuing through Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat, the leadership followed (or at least attempted to follow) God's will. As a result, they were able to fend off attacks from the northern kingdom as well as other invaders from Libya and Ethiopia. The monarchy was stable, with each of the kings enjoying lengthy reigns unlike the unrest of the northern kingdom where kings and their entire lineage were murdered and some kings reigned as briefly as 7 days. And God was prepared to bless them even further, but was limited by the lack of faith exhibited by Asa, as noted in verse16:9 of 2 Chronicles... "the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen the hearts of those fully committed to him". It's neat to think that He is always looking for someone to work through; someone who is fully committed. The trick is to be fully committed, which by the example of Asa is harder than it seems. How often do we find ourselves in a difficult situation like Asa did when facing the attack of the northern kingdom, and rather than trust God with the outcome, make our own plan of attack. And when facing a health crisis like Asa did with his feet, spend more time consulting doctors and internet research than God in prayer? Asa was a man of God for sure and was trying to follow in His ways. But his story gives us a gut-check regarding our own faith. God sees beyond our actions into the true affections of hearts. Mercifully, He knows our faith is imperfect and provided Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Tmorrow's reading: 1 Kings17:8-24, 18:1-46, 19:1-21, 20:1-22
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You are right, Melissa; this passage does provide a gut check for us. So often I begin trying to do or fix things myself and then midstream realize that I'm leaving God out of the process. Praise God for the truth of your last line: "God sees beyond our actions into the true affections of hearts. Mercifully, He knows our faith is imperfect and provided Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith."
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