sokin's devotional 23 - live well, die well
"Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people."
2 Chronicles 16:10
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To get a good understanding of Asa's story, you should read chapters 14-16 to get the whole picture.
In essence, King Asa was a good king. He sought the Lord early in life and did good in His eyes. Asa placed his trust in the Lord to help him deal with wars and was even a mouthpiece against Israel to show them their sin in turning away from the Lord.
For this, God brought victory to Asa's reign and peace lasted during his time.
But towards the latter part of his life and reign, Asa began to falter. When faced with the imposing threat of the Israel against Judah, Asa did not seek God but instead turned to a foreign king to get him out of trouble. He even used the temple silver and gold to pay respects to the king.
When he was confronted with this folly by a prophet, Asa committed the first act of persecution against a prophet by sending him to prison.
Eventually, Asa contracted an illness in his feet and did not seek healing from the Lord, but only sought physicians. (not saying that medical science is obsolete for the believer; rather, the posture of Asa's heart was such that he did not think about seeking the Lord in this matter at all - Asa's handling of this situation basically implied that he thought medicine could do a better job at healing than God, Himself.)
What does this teach me?
Living our life for God is not a once in a while type of deal. It is a "whole life" surrender. One must learn not just how to live well, but also to die well.
Towards the end of his life, Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) regularly asked his closest friends to pray that in his death and dying (he had a type of lung cancer), that he would not do anything or say anything that would not give glory to God.
In affliction and troubles, Asa fell hard and quickly. He was still a good king overall, but what a shame it is to see that he didn't die well.
Let's live our lives for the glory of God. But when the time comes, and when troubles, hardships, health issues pile upon us, lets also learn to respond to these things with the glory of God in mind.
2 Chronicles 16:10
---
To get a good understanding of Asa's story, you should read chapters 14-16 to get the whole picture.
In essence, King Asa was a good king. He sought the Lord early in life and did good in His eyes. Asa placed his trust in the Lord to help him deal with wars and was even a mouthpiece against Israel to show them their sin in turning away from the Lord.
For this, God brought victory to Asa's reign and peace lasted during his time.
But towards the latter part of his life and reign, Asa began to falter. When faced with the imposing threat of the Israel against Judah, Asa did not seek God but instead turned to a foreign king to get him out of trouble. He even used the temple silver and gold to pay respects to the king.
When he was confronted with this folly by a prophet, Asa committed the first act of persecution against a prophet by sending him to prison.
Eventually, Asa contracted an illness in his feet and did not seek healing from the Lord, but only sought physicians. (not saying that medical science is obsolete for the believer; rather, the posture of Asa's heart was such that he did not think about seeking the Lord in this matter at all - Asa's handling of this situation basically implied that he thought medicine could do a better job at healing than God, Himself.)
What does this teach me?
Living our life for God is not a once in a while type of deal. It is a "whole life" surrender. One must learn not just how to live well, but also to die well.
Towards the end of his life, Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) regularly asked his closest friends to pray that in his death and dying (he had a type of lung cancer), that he would not do anything or say anything that would not give glory to God.
In affliction and troubles, Asa fell hard and quickly. He was still a good king overall, but what a shame it is to see that he didn't die well.
Let's live our lives for the glory of God. But when the time comes, and when troubles, hardships, health issues pile upon us, lets also learn to respond to these things with the glory of God in mind.
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