Asa's Religious Reforms

 

2 Chronicles 15:1-15

 

July 5, 2023

 

Asa's Religious Reforms

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.  For a long time, Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.  In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.  They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.  But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.  And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.  They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.  They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep.  And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.  They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns.  And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

I sure hope there is room for more of us to dream as Martin Luther King Jr. did.  But my dream is not to see past skin color, but to see myself and others who go by the name Christian, become followers of Christ.  A good place to begin is where Azariah the son of Oded, who was full of God's Spirit said to Asa, Judah, and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.  

In my dream, I see the Church, all who have by faith put their trust in Christ for now and eternity.  To listen to the words of Azariah, as did Asa and the people of Judah and Benjamin.  Our problem is we forgot what I learned in Vacation Bible School as a child.  We often sang this song; it was titled One Door and Only One.

 

One door, and only one, And yet its sides are two, Inside and outside, On which side are you?  One Door, and only one, And yet its sides are two, I'm on the inside, On which side are you?  One Lord, and only one And yet the ways are two, Right way and wrong way On which way are you?  One Lord, and only one, And yet its ways are two I'm on the right way, On which way are you?  One Book, and only one Which tells of places two Good place or bad place On which place choose you?  One Book and only one Which tells the place is true I choose the good place, And which place choose you?  I choose the good place, And which place choose you?  I choose the good place, And which place choose you?

 

I sang that song from about four years of age to the age of ten, and yet it was the age of 27 before I came to the reality of my deepest need, I needed to enter by that one door, I needed Jesus, for He only offers Truth, and Love and Peace for my soul in an upside-down world, and I read in Romans 10:9, that all I had to do was confess my belief that He was Lord, and that He had conquered death and sin.  Romans 10:9, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And I believed I entered into Christ, and He entered into me.

 

Back to my dream, I’m praying that like the people of Judah under Asa, we the Church would be such a light that our upside-down world would be like Israel and seek after God.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice