“Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might hand them over to Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.”
~ 2 Chronicles 25:20
Hi James and Ellen,
What kind of Christ-follower kids are you? What kind of Christ-follower kids do you want to be a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, ten years from now, twenty years from now, . . . what to you does it means to be a Christ-follower guy, gal or kid? Many Christ-follower guys and gals have become over the years just a Sunday morning church goer versus proactively living 24/7 in community – community being at work, in school, while playing, during eating, through interacting, etc. There are young Christ-follower guys and gals today – such as college age Christ-follower guys and gals or guys and gals who have begun working in a vocation, who are not seeing church today as a building; they are seeing church today as a vibrant community of like-minded guys and gals who really want the presence of Jesus Christ – Who they have accepted as being their Lord and Savior through having made a decision of faith in Him, to emanate, radiate or ooze from their lives. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been asked to be coaches for an Adventures in Missions World Race team. World Race teams are scheduled to go to eleven different countries over an eleven month period – spending a month in each of the different countries. World Race teams are made up of young college age, post college age and even some older guys and gals who are desirous to jumpstart their lives as Christ-followers. The guys and gals who are accepted to join a World Race team are spiritually hungry for a transformed life. Because local church families usually do their thing out of a building, being personally coached through a morphing transformation to become a vibrant Christ-follower guy or gal does not often happen today. As coaches for the September 2007 World Race team, your grandmaa and grandpaa are to be available as resources to the young guys and gals who are planning to go on this World Race – to answer their questions, give them counsel and encourage them. Your grandmaa and grandpaa beginning tomorrow and for the next two weeks are going to have activity filled days here in Gainesville, Georgia – which is where the headquarters of Adventures in Missions is located, as they interact with the 29 guys and gals who have been accepted to go on the September 2007 World Race. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been tasked to divide the 29 guys and gals into four squads. Your grandpaa already has an airline ticket to fly with the 6 guys and 23 gals who are going to be the September 2007 World Race team when they fly out on September 15 from Atlanta for Bangkok, Thailand. Your grandpaa will spend three weeks alongside the September 2007 World Race team – spending time with each squad and especially with each squad leader as they begin what they will be doing in Asia, Africa and Central America.
Would you like to someday go on a World Race? Your grandpaa is sort of wishing that he could go with the September 2007 World Race team to every place where they are scheduled to go. Your grandpaa knows that your grandmaa does not have the physical stamina to spend week after week staying in rustic settings, eating whatever and sleeping on hard mats. At least your grandpaa and very possibly your grandmaa will travel to the debriefings that are planned for the September 2007 World Race participants in Hong Kong in late December and in Swaziland in March. The other two September 2007 World Race team debriefings will probably take place in Mexico and in Nicaragua. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are feeling an innate responsibility for the September 2007 World Race participants – especially that each participant matures into being a wholesome Christ-follower guy or gal. In spite of the fact that your grandmaa and grandpaa know that they are not close to being perfect models, they know that their lives need to be exemplary models of what a Christ-follower’s life is to be like. How do you think that Amaziah felt being the king over the guys and gals who were living in the land area of Judah? The Chronicler’s recounting of Amaziah’s life – which is in 2 Chronicles 25, says that Amaziah did do things that pleased the Lord BUT that he did not do these things that pleased the Lord in a wholehearted, unconditional way. Young guys and gals today want to please God by serving Him by serving others in any way that they can – especially through coming alongside guys, gals and kids in relational ways who are suffering social injustices and familial deprivations.
25 year old Amaziah – who was a little older than the mean age of a September 2007 World Race participant, used his kingship position over the guys who were living the land area of Judah to pull together a 300,000 man army which Amaziah used to beat up on and kill 10,000 Edomite people group guys from the area of Seir during a battle in the Valley of Salt. Amaziah would have another 10,000 Edomite people group guys – who his army had captured, taken to the top of a high cliff so that they could be pushed off the cliff’s edge to die. Amaziah’s relationship with God was fragmented when he took back to the city of Jerusalem Edomite people group’s gods that the guys and gals who were living the land area of Seir worshipped to where he and God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem could worship them. Because Amaziah’s heart seemed to lean towards seeing himself as someone special, verse 20 says, “Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might hand them over to Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.” Amaziah’s life examples what happens when a guy or gal puts chasing after prestige, position, power and/or prosperity over using all of his or her time, energy and hardwiring to know and to serve only God. So – do you want to be like Amaziah or faithful 24/7 Christ-followers?
2 Chronicles 25 (861)