First, my apologies for my hiatus. I was struggling with extreme tiredness and couldn't get myself out of bed to do my normal time so I got behind in my reading schedule and then I've been spending my entire time in the morning trying to catch up so I've been neglecting the blog a little bit. However, even though I am not quite caught up yet this chapter has long been a favorite of mine so I wanted to post about it.
Something that I have long struggled with is following the Lord wholeheartedly. What does that look like in my life? What's the difference between kind of following him and sort of believing he's there and following and loving him with my whole heart? This chapter gives some insight.
This is the story of Amaziah, king of Judah. Verse 2 says that "He id what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. Then they give examples of how this looked in Amaziah's life:
1) He trusted in his own abilities and the power of man. Amaziah is about to go to war and he does what everyone at the time did: beef up the troops by hiring in some fighting men. A man of God comes to him and tells him that he will not win the war. The King asks the man of God vs 9 "What about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?" The man of God replied, "The Lord can give you much more than that." And this is the verse that always hits me between the eyes. What am I toiling away at, trusting on my own abilities and understanding, when all the while the Lord can give me more than that?
2) Amaziah was easily turned to other gods. The Lord did give him victory after he sent the other troops away and he defeated the Edomites but then he brings home their gods with him and begins to worship them instead. Even after the Lord had just given him victory, he turns to other gods. It seems so foolish when you read it but it makes me reflect on my own life if there are times that I fail to trust the Lord when he has just shown his faithfulness to me. I have seen miracles in my own life and had things in my life that leave no doubt that God exists and cares about what happens to me. Why is it a leap of faith every time?
Every time I read this chapter I am convicted to examine my own heart and pray for the Lord to reveal areas in my life where I am not wholehearted.
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