READING: 2 Kings 14:1-14, 2 Chronicles 25:1-24, 2 Kings 13:12-13, 2 Kings 14:15-16, 23-27; 2 Chronicles 25:25-28, 2 Kings 14:17-22, 2 Kings 15:1-5, 2 Chronicles 26:1-21, Jonah 1:1-4:11
Sometimes, we’re just not very smart in our fallenness. We chase sins that bring no lasting pleasure, seek rewards that will ultimately decay, and go after power that is only fleeting. More specifically, we chase after gods who are not gods at all; we run after them without having the wisdom to know they will take us to nowhere—except destruction.
King Amaziah of Judah is an illustration of this faulty, unwise thinking. Having conquered the Edomites, he carried off their gods, “set them up as his own gods,” and worshiped them through bowing before them and offering sacrifices to them (2 Chron 25:14). This step was not an unusual one for a conquering king in the ancient world, but its cultural acceptance at the time does not make it any wiser. Indeed, the Lord in His anger sent a prophet to Amaziah with this quite simple question: “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?” (2 Chron 25:15).
It’s a question filled with logic: why would you choose to follow gods of people you’ve just defeated, or, that is, why trust gods who could not defend their own people against you? It just doesn’t make sense . . . yet we sometimes, too, return again and again to our own false gods who have offered us nothing but guilt and shame.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: What false god, if any, do you keep bringing back into your life?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, show me again today the foolishness of idolatry.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Amos 1:1-6:14