“All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.”
~ 2 Chronicles 15:15
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you think that it pays to be faithful to God? Do you think that God rewards a guy, gal or kid who is totally committed to Him? Do you know how you can be faithful to God? Do you know how you can be totally committed to God? What do you think is the opposite of being faithful to God? It would be doing things that God does not want you to do. What do you think would be some things that God does not want you to do? Are you disobedient at times to your ma and dad? Do you know some words that God would not be happy if you said any of them? Do you think that it is okay to steal? God uses the Bible to tell you what not to do and what not to want. What do you think is the opposite of being totally committed to God? Is it more important to you to do things and/or to receive things that might make you appear to be prestigious or is it more important to you to do things and/or to gift things that might make other kids sense being appreciated by you? Your grandpaa knows that the things that he has done to make himself look more impressive have not please God. Because of an inherited sin nature, every guy, gal and kid will inevitably do things that will not please God. What God really wants you to do is to listen really carefully to His voice. You can find examples in the Bible where God helped guys who were faithful and who were committed to Him. Asa was one of these guys. Asa was Judah’s third king. The Bible teaches you a lot about the kings who ruled over Judah and about the kings who ruled over Israel. The Israelite people group became tainted when they decided that they had to have a king rule over them instead of letting God continue to lead them. The Israelites are God’s specially chosen people. God’s specially chosen people were comprised of twelve tribes. The twelve tribes split into two Israelite nations after Solomon’s death. Solomon was the third guy to rule Israel as a king. Your grandpaa will tell you someday about the two guys – Rehoboam and Jeroboam, who were the ones responsible for what took place which caused the twelve tribes to end up separating into two Israelite nations. One of these nations kept the name Israel. The other nation became known as Judah. The city of Jerusalem is located in Judah’s land area.
Judah had several kings who faithfully followed God’s will and who were totally committed to Him. Asa was the first of the five kings who were faithful to God and who were committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 15 tells you about Asa’s faithfulness and about his desire to be wholeheartedly committed to God. You can read in another chapter in the Bible that when Asa got old that Asa attempted to trust in himself. When Asa no longer trusted in God, what do you think happened? Your grandpaa will tell you someday what happened. If you really want to know now, ask your dad to look for the answer in the Bible. What do you think led Asa to faithfully follow God when he was young? What do you think led Asa to be totally committed to God when he was young? The answer is that God led Asa to be faithful to Him and that God led Asa to be totally committed to Him. God did this through His Spirit and through one of His prophets. The prophet’s name was Azariah. Azariah visited Asa when Asa first became king. Asa was still young at this time. Azariah told Asa that if he faithfully followed God’s will and if he was totally committed to listening to God’s voice that God would be with him and that God would not leave him. Asa listened to Azariah’s words. Asa – while Judah’s king, got rid of all the idol gods that were in Judah. Asa also fixed the Lord’s altar so that the Israelite people group could make sacrifices to God on this altar. Asa’s grandma – Maacah, was the queen when Asa became king. Asa’s grandmaa made and worshipped what was called an Asherah pole. An Asherah pole was an idol god. What do you think that Asa did with his grandmaa? Asa told his grandmaa that she could no longer be the queen. Asa also made a resolution to kill any guy or gal who would not faithfully follow God and who would not totally commit to serving Him. Asa made sure that he had the support of the guys and gals who lived in Judah before he made the public pronouncement of what he would do to anyone who did not faithfully follow God or who would not totally commit to Him. Verse 15 says “All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.”
Not long after your Aunt Lynn was born – which was just about 29 years ago, your grandmaa and grandpaa began attending the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Not long after your grandmaa and grandpaa began going to this church, a deeper life speaker began speaking nightly in the church. Your grandmaa and grandpaa went to hear the deeper life speaker speak. The speaker’s name was Rev. Don McKaughn. Because your grandpaa likes to sit in the back of a church, your grandmaa and grandpaa were sitting on one of the back benches in church. Right in the middle of what he was saying, Rev. McKaughn suddenly pointed his finger in the direction of where your grandmaa and grandpaa were sitting. It seemed to your grandpaa when Rev. McKaughn said ‘if you say that you are a Christian, why aren’t you acting like one’ that he was pointing his finger right at your grandpaa. Even though your grandpaa knew in his heart that he was already a Christ-follower, when your grandpaa heard what Rev. McKaughn said, your grandpaa promised God that he would start to act in every way possible how a Christian should act. God heard what your grandpaa said in his heart to Him. Your grandpaa not long after this was asked to teach the high school Sunday School class and another couple asked your grandmaa and grandpaa to join their weekly Bible study. If you desire blessing filled lives that are filled with peace, faithfully follow God’s will.
2 Chronicles 15 (57)