READING: 1 Kings 15:1-24, 2 Chronicles 13-16
“You have been foolish in this matter. Therefore, you will have wars from now on.”
2 Chronicles 16:9
He who starts well doesn’t always end well. Most of us know that truth, but it’s still agonizing to us when we see its reality lived out in front of us. Sometimes, the folks who follow God with “all their heart and all their soul” (2 Chron. 15:12) at one point also make bad choices at another point. Asa was one of those men.
He was a good king who removed idols from the land, destroyed pagan altars, and challenged the people to “seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands” (2 Chron. 14:4). The Lord honored that commitment, routed their enemies, and “gave them rest on every side” (2 Chron. 15:15). That blessing would not last, however.
In his latter years, Asa formed a treaty with the king of Syria (rather than trust God), rejected the instruction of the prophet Hanani, and didn’t even seek the Lord when disease struck him. The Lord, whose eyes “roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him” (2 Chron. 16:9), saw all of Asa’s failures and removed the peace his people had experienced. The people still honored him at his death, but failure marked his final years.
I tell my students that how one ends a ministry is more important than how he begins it. He could have dropped out of heaven at the beginning, but the people will remember his failures if he doesn’t end well. Leaving or ending poorly will color everything else he accomplished in ministry. With that truth in mind, I want to end well.
ACTION STEPS:
- Pray today that the Lord will help you end well.
- Turn to God with whatever you face today. Trust Him rather than yourself or others.
PRAYER: “God, I can too easily depend on others rather than on You. Forgive me.”
