I have been reading through 1 and 2 Chronicles lately. Today I came across the stories of Amaziah, Uzziah and Jotham in 2 Chronicles 25-27. Their stories illustrate the foolishness of doing our own thing. Amaziah and Uzziah were kings of Judah who started out walking with God but ended up doing their own thing.
Amaziah seems like a good guy at first. He followed God’s law and when God warned him not to rely on the Ephraimites in battle he obeyed and sent them away even though it cost him to do so. But then he did a foolish thing. After defeating the Edomites in battle he decided to bring back their ‘gods’ and worship them in Jerusalem. What was he thinking? He had just defeated the Edomites and their gods were not able to protect them so why in the world would he think that it is a good idea to worship them? In the end this foolish decision cost him dearly. He experienced defeat and loss and ultimately it cost him his life.
Uzziah is another example of foolishness. He too started out well. He did what was right and feared the Lord as long as someone was around to keep him accountable. He experienced a lot of success as a result. But all that success led to arrogance. Instead of fearing the Lord he decided that he could do what he wanted. He took it upon himself to enter the temple and take up the role of priest. And when confronted by the priests he refused to listen and became angry. That mistake cost him dearly. He ended up with skin disease and living the rest of his life in quarantine. His son had to take his place as king in Judah.
These two kings decided to do their own thing instead of following God. That decision did not pay off. It cost them everything. There’s a word of warning for us in their stories. In fact, there are a couple words of warning in their stories. The first word of warning is this: just because you start well doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end well. Ouch! That hurts. We are all in danger of being distracted from following God. It’s easier than you might think. We compromise in one area, begin to separate ourselves from Christian community, neglect spiritual habits, and let other voices overpower God’s voice in our lives. It’s a series of small decisions that slowly turns us away from God. In the midst of that, though, God does not sit back and let it happen. He pursues us, calls us back to him and tries to get our attention. Pay attention! Respond when you hear God calling you back to him. If you want to finish well be quick to repent and turn back to him when you drift away.
The second word of warning from Amaziah and Uzziah is that it doesn’t pay to walk away. We may think things will be better if we just do our own thing. We may think that we know better and can make the right decisions for our life on our own but we’d be wrong. We have such inflated views of ourselves sometimes. The reality is that we are finite creatures who cannot even take a breath into our lungs without God breathing life into us. We have little control over life circumstances. In a moment everything could change without us lifting a finger or giving our permission. Our smallness means we rely on God’s greatness. We need God to lead us through our day because he sees the big picture and he knows what is best. We could try to do things our own way but we’d end up lost, alone and destitute. Or we could walk with God and find direction, community, and strength.
Not much is said about King Jotham in 2 Chronicles 27 but what little is said indicates that Jotham is a better example. He followed the Lord and didn’t become arrogant like his father Uzziah. He experienced victory in battle, prospered and built up his kingdom. The author of Chronicles makes this comment about Jotham’s life: “So Jotham strengthened himself because he did not waver in obeying the LORD his God” (2 Chr. 27:6). Even though it wasn’t the popular thing to do, Jotham unwaveringly followed the Lord his God and God strengthened his kingdom. Jotham’s example challenges us to walk faithfully with God and obey his instructions and leading in our lives. When we are unwaveringly faithful to God we live with his strength, his wisdom and his power.
Are you walking faithfully with the Lord today? Or is God trying to get your attention and calling you back to himself? Be quick to repent and turn back to him.Walk with him today and find his strength, wisdom and power to face whatever comes your way.