If you seek the LORD, He will let You find Him. If you forsake Him, He will forsake you. This is a powerful message from the LORD. Take it to heart. The LORD does not change. This message is still true for us today. Pay attention to both parts. Too often we only want to pay attention to the positive half of the covenant.
The Prophet Azariah Warns Asa
1Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3“For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. 4“But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. 5“In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6“Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. 7“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”
Asa’s Reforms
8Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. 9He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. 12They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; 13and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. 15All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
16He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah, and Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. 18He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils. 19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Asa’s faith and obedience was not just in words. He took bold action to show his loyalty and faithfulness before Yahweh. He took on some aggressive changes among his people and even with his mother. He put Yahweh first, as we should do still today.
It appears from verse 17 that he left some things undone. He was not perfect, yet his heart was blameless all his days. That is an encouragement to me. I have taken bold action in my life to put the LORD and His ways first, ahead of family and cultural traditions. It has created conflict and difficulty. However, I know I am still not perfect and have more I need to learn and do to fully honor my LORD. I find it encouraging that we need not be perfect in our execution to have our heart be blameless before the LORD. We also see that God provided many years of peace for Asa. He was blessed because His heart was toward the LORD and that was demonstrated by his bold actions for the LORD.
Ask God to show you what there is in your life that you should remove. It may be holidays based in pagan roots, and replacing them with His holy days, the Moedim. It may be coveting. It may be loving others and making time to serve and help them. It may be many things. Seek the LORD and ask courage and discernment to make the changes you need to make to honor Him and put Him first. Take caution, however, if you find yourself claiming your heart is toward the LORD, but you take no action that reflects that. That may be an indication that your heart is not fully devoted to the LORD as top priority. Said another way, if someone had to prove your heart was to the LORD fully through the evidence of your actions… could they prove it beyond a reasonable doubt?
I invite you to pray with me:
Father, thank You for Your word and Your Spirit. Thank You for inviting me to know, love, and serve You. Help me to be like Asa, with a blameless heart before You, taking bold action to turn my life and the lives of others I influence back to You and Your ways and away from cultural and family norms that conflict with Your ways. Raise up more workers to help in this harvest among all Your people who call upon Your name and seek You through Yeshua. Amen.
Shalom
Devotion by John in service to Christ
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