For the past five days we have been looking at 2 Chronicles 15:2 – 7 (here @ Bible Gateway). The series was called “Preface to Distraction” because I had earlier written about Asa focusing on the end of his life. To summarize his life, in 2 Chronicles 15 (here @ Bible Gateway) Asa does really well. In 2 Chronicle 16, not so much (here @ Bible Gateway).
What is the difference?
In 15 (here @ Bible Gateway) Asa listens to the prophet Azariah, he sought the Lord. In 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) he chose not to seek the Lord, but rather sought an alliance with Damascus; and he chose not to listen to the prophet Hanani, rather when Hanani confronted Asa, Asa threw him in the clink.
There are a number of lessons here. Asa listened to Azaiah at the beginning of his reign. He was relatively new to the job. He was not too proud to take the advice. When the problem reoccurred in the 36th year of his reign, he had much more experience. Rather than seeking the Lord, he figured he could solve this one on his own.
It looks like he became comfortable, over confident, and complacent in his extensive experience. Thus, he did not need to seek the Lord or listen to the counsel of a man of God.
Scares me.
It is a common tale. One starts well and finishes poorly. Why? Confidence in one’s own wisdom and distancing oneself from godly counsel. That seems to be a recipe for disaster, or in Asa’s case really bad feet.
What can we learn from Asa? How can we avoid the downward trajectory of his life? The first part, seeking the Lord, is really easier for us than it was for Asa. We have the full text of the Bible, probably on our phones, he had scrolls but those scrolls seemed to get misplaced often. He was supposed to make his own hand written copy of the first five books, Deuteronomy 17:18 – 20, but there is no indication that he did this. We have an embarrassing amount of Bibles and Biblical resources there are over 3,000 in my Bible program. For us it is as simple as a disciplined quiet time. If you do not know how to do that, let me know, I’ll help.
There are few if, in fact any, prophets wandering around today. I can say that I have never met or heard one. So how do we avoid Asa’s second problem, not paying attention to men sent into his life by God? That again may be simpler than it would seem. If we look at the New Testament, one of the recurring themes is men encouraging other men. So it would seem that we all need others around us who are committed to having those men in our lives. Men who are struggling to walk with God in this life as we are. Men who are in the Word of God. Men who will encourage us from their life and their time in the Word.
It would seem to me that not to follow those two suggestions, to do what Asa did at the first of his reign, would insure that we will end up like him at the end of his reign.
I am not interested in that program.
What is the difference?
In 15 (here @ Bible Gateway) Asa listens to the prophet Azariah, he sought the Lord. In 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) he chose not to seek the Lord, but rather sought an alliance with Damascus; and he chose not to listen to the prophet Hanani, rather when Hanani confronted Asa, Asa threw him in the clink.
There are a number of lessons here. Asa listened to Azaiah at the beginning of his reign. He was relatively new to the job. He was not too proud to take the advice. When the problem reoccurred in the 36th year of his reign, he had much more experience. Rather than seeking the Lord, he figured he could solve this one on his own.
It looks like he became comfortable, over confident, and complacent in his extensive experience. Thus, he did not need to seek the Lord or listen to the counsel of a man of God.
Scares me.
It is a common tale. One starts well and finishes poorly. Why? Confidence in one’s own wisdom and distancing oneself from godly counsel. That seems to be a recipe for disaster, or in Asa’s case really bad feet.
What can we learn from Asa? How can we avoid the downward trajectory of his life? The first part, seeking the Lord, is really easier for us than it was for Asa. We have the full text of the Bible, probably on our phones, he had scrolls but those scrolls seemed to get misplaced often. He was supposed to make his own hand written copy of the first five books, Deuteronomy 17:18 – 20, but there is no indication that he did this. We have an embarrassing amount of Bibles and Biblical resources there are over 3,000 in my Bible program. For us it is as simple as a disciplined quiet time. If you do not know how to do that, let me know, I’ll help.
There are few if, in fact any, prophets wandering around today. I can say that I have never met or heard one. So how do we avoid Asa’s second problem, not paying attention to men sent into his life by God? That again may be simpler than it would seem. If we look at the New Testament, one of the recurring themes is men encouraging other men. So it would seem that we all need others around us who are committed to having those men in our lives. Men who are struggling to walk with God in this life as we are. Men who are in the Word of God. Men who will encourage us from their life and their time in the Word.
It would seem to me that not to follow those two suggestions, to do what Asa did at the first of his reign, would insure that we will end up like him at the end of his reign.
I am not interested in that program.
I would suggest one other, perhaps better and closer, voice of God in most of our lives - our wives.
ReplyDeleteGod originally provided Adam with a companion "suitable for him" after pronouncing that "it is not good for the man to be alone." This was spoken of a "perfect" man in a "perfect" environment. Our wives will likely know us better than anyone else. The will hopefully love us more than anyone else. They live with us in situations no one else regularly does. They view us more closely and from a different perspectives than anyone else.
How often did I, by my actions, attitudes and perhaps even my words effectively say to God (let alone her) "You can speak to me in any way - except my wife?"
Before her death God had been communicating to me through her what I now see to be a very serious issue. But I was not willing to listen. That is a horrendous loss to me.