Title The beginning and outcome of work
Contents
♡♥♡ The beginning and result of work / 2 Chronicles 16:7-12
*** Introduction
People's lifestyles are diverse. Depending on their personality, they are timid and meticulous in everything, they are active but sloppy, and there are forms of making and implementing detailed plans. Also, there are people who do a lot of work and start things well, but have a faint ending, and there are people who can't do much, but always deliver results when they start. What is your lifestyle?
In the text of this time, ‘Asa’, the third king of southern Judah, appears. King Asa reigned in a relatively God-fearing and religious manner while he was on the throne for 41 years. 2 Chronicles 14:2-5 testifies about the early works of King Asa.
“And Asa did what was good and just in the sight of the LORD his God, to destroy the foreign altars and high places, to destroy the pillars, to cut down the Asherah tables, and to command the Jews to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to do their laws and commands And he removed the high places and sun tables from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was at peace before him.”
However, in verse 1, it is recorded that the peace was ‘for ten years’. In other words, they started well, but gradually they change their minds and thoughts. To summarize the life of King Asa, the phrase “dragon head sami” fits well.
If you watch a marathon broadcast, there are cases where you start lightly when you start and run while maintaining the lead so that you want to “run well.” I've seen a lot of people go around the turning point and slowly sag backward as they give up the lead as the goal comes closer. Isn't it a sad sight to finally give up the championship? In a sporting event, a start is important. But results are also important. As Christians, the beginning of work is important, but the end is even more important. If that is our life, it is important, needless to explain.
Every time I read the biography of King Asa, including the text, I can't help but feel sad. King Asa is not alone in this case. The same is true of King Saul and King Solomon, whom we know well. Their start was really good. He received God's approval and began to rule with people's blessings. But, as you know, the results all have one thing in common: tragedy. However, not only these, but also the people and events in the Bible have something in common. I hope you can take control of your life while looking at this commonality.
1. The degree of dependence on God was different.
If we were to pick out the three holy cities of southern Judah, we would name Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Like King Solomon, King Asa also liked the beginning of God. King Asa devoted his efforts to the Reformation by removing foreign altars and high places, destroying the pillars, and setting up Asherah statues. He also commanded all the people to seek God and to obey the law and command. He even proclaimed, “Anyone who does not seek Jehovah God in Israel must be put to death, regardless of size or size.” He also cut and burned a wooden statue made by his mother with that specimen, and deposed the mother who made the wooden statue from the position of Empress Dowager. God encouraged King Asa to make bold reforms. And he made sure that there would be no wars until the 35th year of King Asa's reign.
In the 36th year of King Asa, King Baasha of northern Israel invaded. King Asa had no place in his heart to rely on God until now, and he gave Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, the gold and silver of the temple and royal palace, and asked him to defeat the northern Israelite army. King Asa no longer depended on God. King Asa's heart changed like this after the first 10 years of his rule, when the country was firmly established. King Asa slowly began to trust the power and power of the world when the kingdom was firmly established by the grace of God. Eventually, when war broke out in the 36th year of his reign, he abandoned God and depended on the power of the world. Previously, when a million of Cush's armies attacked, they depended on God, but now they depended on people despite the small northern Israel attacking.
God sent the seer Hanani to King Asa. And in the words of verses 7-9, he said, “Because you did not trust in God, there will be wars from now on.” The peace of relying on God is gone. See verse 9. “The eyes of the Lord run through all the earth, to show power for those whose heart is devoted to him… ” he said.
What people with bad endings have in common is that the beginning and the end were ‘different levels of dependence on God.’ Solomon even offered a thousand burnt offerings, and asked God to speak his wishes only to ‘wisdom’ to judge the people. Saul was so humble and ashamed that he hid behind a wagon when God had chosen him to be Israel's first king. The church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation had a deep love for God and people. However, as time passed, their dependence on God disappeared, and they became dependent on worldly power and power. The ending also has one thing in common: “defeat.
2. The search direction has changed.
King Asa's personality changed as he relied on the world. Violent tendencies were prominent. Now I hated even giving God's warnings. In anger, King Asa imprisoned Hanani, the seer who preached the word of God, and took his anger out with the people. Eventually, in the 39th year of his reign, as a result of God's discipline, he became seriously ill. Let's look at verse 12. “In the thirty-ninth year of Asa’s reign, his foot was very sick, and when he was ill, he did not ask the Lord, but the doctors.
In the early days of Asa's reign, the word of God was the law. Even when Serah of Cush came to battle with a million soldiers, King Asa cried out to God. It was King Asa who did not seek human help even in the midst of a heavy widowhood. God heard King Asa's cry and ordered the Cushite army to be annihilated. But now, even though he had a disease in his feet, he did not ask God but a doctor.
So, shouldn't you go to the hospital or use medicines when you're sick? Of course not. It is God who made the doctor, and it is God who gave the medicine. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, was a doctor, and God never stopped using drugs. However, it is a matter of priority. Do you seek God first? Or do you rely on people, worldly powers, or drugs? that is. When we ask God first, God will provide us through doctors or medicines.
The fact that King Asa did not ask God is an expression of no longer trusting or relying on God. How are you? Do you trust and rely on God more deeply now than when you first believed in Jesus? And do you ask God first for anything? Maybe the beginning was good, but now that the years have passed, has it been leaning towards the world?
Hebrews 3:14. “If we hold fast to the end what is certain from the beginning, we will become partakers of Christ.” In our life or in everything we do, not only is the beginning great, but the outcome is even better, so that we may be praised by God.