1 Kings 15:1-4, 13
Asa was unlike his family. He loved and followed the Lord. What happens when you are surrounded by people in your life that are disobeying God in all that they are doing? How do you overcome such circumstances? I recently preached about how we are “not to be yoked together with unbelievers” in reference to Solomon’s sensual obsession with women. Ultimately, it cost him dearly. That’s NOT this! What I mean is that sometimes you are “born into dysfunction,” so what are you going to do? It’s a tough situation.
Abijah was an evil king. The Bible says that he “committed all the sins his father had done before him.” In other words, he did NOT break the cycle of sin. When he had the chance, he continued the cycle of selfish idolatry. When he died, his son Asa became king. In what is a dramatic turn of events, Asa chooses to honor the God of Israel with boldness and courage. He even does something later that is truly amazing. We’ll get to it in a bit.
I had the blessing of being a youth pastor for 17 years before I became a lead pastor. If you’ve been around me for any length of time, you know that I love to reminisce over those years sharing the good, bad, and ugly. I remember a time when we were having a pretty large outreach event All-Nighter. We went to various venues throughout the night with the students. Junior High and Senior High were separated, rotating the different venues. One was a roller-skating venue. While our high school students were bowling, the junior high students were at the roller-skating rink. I was with the high school students when I received a phone call from one of my junior high leaders. There was a problem. A junior high girl, who had been kicked out of that venue for fighting in the recent past, was being told that she could not enter. It was 3:00 AM. What was I supposed to do with her? Frustrated, I called the roller-skating rink and explained my dilemma, but the management of the rink held firm to their decision. So, I had one of my youth leaders drive this girl home. When they arrived, what happened next is the sad part of the story. There was mom and dad sitting on the porch, as high as a kite, with no interest in their daughter. In fact, as she stormed past them, they showed very little concern about why she had been brought home. Clearly, her dysfunction was a result of their dysfunction. Sadly, most of us become a product of our environments. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way!
I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at teenagers and told them that they can “overcome their upbringing!” They can be good and loving parents. They can be sober and functional members of society. They can be leaders of others and lovers of the Lord God Almighty. Sometimes they believe me and do the things necessary to achieve these things; sometimes they don’t. Asa did. In fact, he did the impossible. He literally removed his grandmother from her position of Queen Mother of Judah. He saw her evil ways and powerful influence as something that had to be dealt with. He chose God over his corrupt family. He is one of the few kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom of Israel) who “stood for what is true and right!”
You do not have to be defined by your past, your family, or your struggles. Notice the encouraging words of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. No one said it was going to be easy, but it’s definitely obtainable. Just ask Asa.
Abijah was an evil king. The Bible says that he “committed all the sins his father had done before him.” In other words, he did NOT break the cycle of sin. When he had the chance, he continued the cycle of selfish idolatry. When he died, his son Asa became king. In what is a dramatic turn of events, Asa chooses to honor the God of Israel with boldness and courage. He even does something later that is truly amazing. We’ll get to it in a bit.
I had the blessing of being a youth pastor for 17 years before I became a lead pastor. If you’ve been around me for any length of time, you know that I love to reminisce over those years sharing the good, bad, and ugly. I remember a time when we were having a pretty large outreach event All-Nighter. We went to various venues throughout the night with the students. Junior High and Senior High were separated, rotating the different venues. One was a roller-skating venue. While our high school students were bowling, the junior high students were at the roller-skating rink. I was with the high school students when I received a phone call from one of my junior high leaders. There was a problem. A junior high girl, who had been kicked out of that venue for fighting in the recent past, was being told that she could not enter. It was 3:00 AM. What was I supposed to do with her? Frustrated, I called the roller-skating rink and explained my dilemma, but the management of the rink held firm to their decision. So, I had one of my youth leaders drive this girl home. When they arrived, what happened next is the sad part of the story. There was mom and dad sitting on the porch, as high as a kite, with no interest in their daughter. In fact, as she stormed past them, they showed very little concern about why she had been brought home. Clearly, her dysfunction was a result of their dysfunction. Sadly, most of us become a product of our environments. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way!
I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at teenagers and told them that they can “overcome their upbringing!” They can be good and loving parents. They can be sober and functional members of society. They can be leaders of others and lovers of the Lord God Almighty. Sometimes they believe me and do the things necessary to achieve these things; sometimes they don’t. Asa did. In fact, he did the impossible. He literally removed his grandmother from her position of Queen Mother of Judah. He saw her evil ways and powerful influence as something that had to be dealt with. He chose God over his corrupt family. He is one of the few kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom of Israel) who “stood for what is true and right!”
You do not have to be defined by your past, your family, or your struggles. Notice the encouraging words of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. No one said it was going to be easy, but it’s definitely obtainable. Just ask Asa.
Posted in Devotional