Let us act honestly in the eyes of the Lord until the end!

Let us act honestly in the eyes of the Lord until the end!

 

1 Kings 15:9-24

 

In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of northern Israel, Asa became king of southern Judah and reigned in Jerusalem for forty-one years. Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David did. He drove out sodomites (temple male prostitutes) from the land and destroyed all the idols that his ancestors had made. And King Asa abolished his mother Maacah's position as queen mother because she had made an abominable image of Asherah, and cut down the image and burned it by the Kidron brook, but he did not destroy the high place. But Asa's heart was perfect before the LORD all his life, and he brought to the temple of the LORD what his father had consecrated and what he had consecrated: silver, gold, and vessels.

There was a lifelong war between King Asa of southern Judah and Baasha, king of northern Israel. Baasha came up against Judah and built Ramah to prevent people from going to and from Asa, king of Judah. And Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasury of the LORD's temple and in the treasury of the king's palace, and gave it into the hand of his servants, and sent it to Benhadad king of Aram, who dwelt in Damascus, and said, There was a covenant between me and you, and between my father and your father. “I have sent you an offering of silver and gold. Come and break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, so that he may leave me.” So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah.

King Asa then issued an order to all of Judah to bring the stones and lumber that Baasha had used to build Ramah, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah in Benjamin. But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. Asa sleeps with his ancestors and is buried with them in the city of his ancestor David, and his son Jehoshaphat becomes king in his stead.

 

King Asa of Southern Judah, like his ancestor David, acted righteously in the eyes of the Lord (11-14). Like David, Asa had limitations and flaws, but he never lost his love for God throughout his life. It is difficult to act perfectly, but you must maintain your sanity. We must love and serve God and our neighbors with an honest and consistent heart.

Asa's reform was all the more powerful because it were not driven by human affection. Calling for reform and change on the outside while turning a blind eye to corruption on the inside is a superficial reform that only pays lip service without self-sacrifice. Let’s think about what actions for change we can take right now and take action.

 

King Asa of southern Judah relied on Benhadad, king of Syria, to defeat King Baasha of northern Israel. So when King Asa was old, he had a disease in his feet (16-23). ​​The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through all the earth, to show his strength for those who turn to him with their whole heart. From now on there will be war with the king (2 Chronicles 16:9), so we must live with faith relying only on God until the end.

 

God, help us love and serve You and our neighbors with an honest and consistent heart! And let us sacrifice ourselves and achieve true reform! And let us live by faith, relying only on You until the end!