READING: 2 Chronicles 23-24, John 15
“So they executed judgment on Joash.”
2 Chronicles 24:24
All of us have a biography with a beginning and a middle – and an end if the Lord tarries His return until after we die. We can usually talk about details of our beginning, though we may not know all of them. I know, for example, that I was born in a hospital in Cincinnati. I also know that I was born prematurely and was quite small, especially for the medical care available in 1961. You may well know the same kinds of details about your beginning.
We can’t know the rest of our life story, though. I’m fairly sure that I’m more than halfway through my life by now. Only the Lord knows when He will call me home, so I can’t know the end of the story. Nor can you or anyone else know that information about life. Obviously, it’s impossible for any of us to write our full autobiography.
We can only pray now that our full biography does not reflect the story of Joash in today’s reading. He became king at age 7, and he “did what was right in the Lord’s sight” as long as Jehoida the priest was his mentor and influence (2 Chron. 24:2). When Jehoida died, though, the leaders of Judah convinced Joash to return to idolatry; they then “abandoned the temple of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors and served the Asherah poles and the idols” (2 Chron. 24:18). Joash would later be assassinated and be buried without honor, even as a king. The end of his story was thus nothing less than tragic.
Surely Joash did not know – or expect – that his life would end so pitifully. During the days of Jehoida, such a downfall probably never crossed his mind. That’s the point of today’s reading that grabs my heart: just as Joash surely did not know how his life would end, neither do we. Nobody I know ever planned to fall, and I don’t know anyone walking with God today who has plans to collapse like Joash did. The problem with a fall is that we don’t usually come to our senses until it’s too late.
Our story has a beginning, a middle, and end. Our end will be God-honoring, though, only if we choose to honor Him every day as if this day were indeed our last.
ACTION STEPS:
- Think about your own life to this point. Review the ways that God has provided for you until now. Thank Him.
- Commit to following Him so fully today that the end of your story will please Him.
PRAYER: “God, I don’t want to end poorly. Draw me deeply to You every day, and protect me from following others in the wrong direction.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 25-27, John 16