Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 15
The Lord's will for you is to live your life wholeheartedly devotedly to Him with diligence, conviction, and persistence. The books of First
and Second Kings record the progression of kings who ascended to Israel’s and
Judah’s thrones in the years following Solomon’s death. Some were good kings,
some were bad kings. Chapter 15 of First Kings chronicles three bad kings (Abijam, Nadab, Baasha) and one good king (Asa).
The three “bad” kings
are described as men who were not faithful to the LORD their God. They “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.” (V26) Their hearts were far from
God. They ignored the commandments of God and engaged in idolatry and pagan
worship. Verse 3 says of Abijam, “his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God.” He, like the
other evil kings, had a divided heart.
In verse 9, we are introduced to a “shining light”
amidst all of this darkness, a king named Asa. Asa did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord. He banished
the shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors
had made. He even deposed his grandmother who had been responsible for much of
the obscene worship practices.
Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD. Verse 14 tells us that “the
heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all
his days.” Asa is noticeable in the
early part of his life for the fact that he got rid of idol worship and set up
the worship of God, carrying it out with great diligence, conviction, and
persistence. Asa was not perfect (as we will see in upcoming chapters) but his
heart was in the right place – wholeheartedly devoted to God. A person with a heart that is “wholly true”
has one preeminent desire—to please the Lord, not in outward ritual or
eyeservice, but from deep within his/her soul. Devotion to God includes careful
attention to His Word and unwavering effort to obey Him. God is looking
for men and women with such hearts.
His will for you is
to live your life wholeheartedly devotedly to Him with diligence, conviction,
and persistence. If your heart is in the right place, your daily living will
follow. Living wholeheartedly for the Lord is impossible in our own strength.
But if we’ll humble ourselves and ask, He will give us the grace to diligently
and persistently live for Him. Our walk with Jesus will never be perfect during
this lifetime, but we can give Him our wholehearted, persistent devotion.
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