Finishing well!

The Southern Kingdom of Judah had a total of 20 kings out of which only eight were godly. Of these eight godly kings, five were very godly and were used by God to bring revival to the nation. These five revival kings were, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah and Josiah.

1 Kings 15:11 says "And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father." David was the standard that every king was held up to. We read about Asa in 2 Chron. 14-16 Chapters. Asa was a man who sought God in his own life. Asa was a man who led others to seek God. Asa was a man of peace, yet he prepared for battle against the enemies of God and he was a man of prayer. But eventually Asa failed. Asa wholly sought the Lord for many years but then the last five years of his reign were a failure. Asa turned to the King of Syria instead of God and did not repent even after Hanani the Seer pointed it out! 2 Chron. 16:10 says, “Then Asa was angry with the Seer and put him in prison.”

Manasseh was the only king who started as a wicked person but repented later. We read in 2 Chron. 33:10-17, that he repented and finished well. Verse 13b says, ”Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

Like Asa, many of us start well but do not finish well. When Asa died, he died as a man who in the former years had served God and sought God, but in the final years, “he sought not to the Lord.”

My friend, the question facing each one of us today is, ‘Am I one whose Christian life is what it used to be?’ The rebuke that came to the Church in Ephesus was, “you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen.” (Rev 2:4,5).

May God help us to remember our first love and return to the Lord!

Categories: Weekly DevotionalsAuthor: Hephzibah StephenDate: 7th November 2017 Share: newsletterDisplay date: 7th November 2017

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