2 Kings 12 -- It Seemed Like A Good Beginning...

This chapter started out sounding so hopeful.  The boy king who'd been saved by the high priest decided to repair the Temple and to use the priests to accomplish it.  But by the time he was 30, it still hadn't happened!  He set up a designated building fund box and the people loved it and contributed graciously.  The workers were so honest that even auditors weren't needed.

But my commentary said King Joash had a shallow faith.  His heart had no room for it to take root and flourish.  With Jehoiada as his tutor and mentor, Joash did well.  The only complaint God seemed to have was that Joash didn't tear down the high places where people worshiped God instead of worshiping in the Temple.  "Joash's faith was shallow, and he obeyed God only to please Jehoiada.  Joash was an excellent follower but not a good leader.  When Jehoiada died, Joash went his own way and disobeyed the Lord," my commentary said.

After Jehoiada's death, "King Joash showed his true colors and abandoned the faith ... The problem was Joash's shallow faith and his desire to please the leaders of the land, the officials who visited Joash and asked him to be more lenient in matters of religion.  He relented, and once again idolatry moved into Judah and Jerusalem.  Joash's apostasy was a sin of willful rebellion against God, for the king knew what the law of Moses taught about idolatry.  But it was also a sin of ingratitude for all that Jehoiada had done for him.  Jehoiada and his wife had saved the king's life!  The high priest had taught him the truth of God's Word ... but the king had never taken the truth into his heart and allowed it to take root.  The soil of his heart was shallow and he had obeyed God's law only because his mentor was watching ... Until duty and discipline become delight, we are only reluctant servants who obey God because we have to, not because we want to."

Father, I remember those days of feeling duty and discipline when I was having to retrain my own heart to accept Your love.  Thank You that it transformed into delight.  Please help those I love to make that same transition and come to love and trust You as I have.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford