13:9 - If you offer yourself to anything other than God, looking to be fulfilled and satisfied...you will be left empty, having made yourself a priest of a non-existent, powerless god. Why do we do this? Why do we worship at the altar of things that continually let us down, believing that next time they will bring the satisfaction we desire. Offer yourself to God.
13:15 - This war cry is reminiscent of the shout that God's people let out when they are surrounding the city of Jericho. The men of Judah are surrounded on all sides, outnumbered 2-to-1, but they trust in God and cry out in confidence. They know that God will prevail and they live like it - do you?
14:3 - Abijah trusted God when it came to battle, but it seems that he didn't trust God enough to give his whole life to the Lord. When his son takes over as king, there are idols to false gods that Abijah allowed to exist in Judah. Asa on the other hand, understands that God-fearers must be willing to offer God their whole life - every area...and he starts cleaning house. What are the things that you and I need to cleanse from our lives - are there idols that we allow to replace God?
15:8 - We see a second reference to Asa removing idols and a thought comes to mind, "Did the people start worshipping idols again? Is that why he has to tear the altars down a second time?" Well, what we are reading here is the actual account of what was described at the beginning of chapter 14. Asa is introduced as a good king who removed the pagan altars...the story is told in full in chapter 15 as we see why he was motivated to do so - he wanted the people of Judah to be utterly faithful to God.
16:9 - Great verse! This might be coming soon for my boy's bible verse memory list. God sees all over the world all the time - He knows who you are and where you are and He is offering support to those who are faithful. Remember that you are never alone and that you are never helpless.
16:12 - Unfortunately as we have often seen, the king does not remain totally faithful at the end of his life. He starts to ignore God and put his trust in the strength and wisdom of man. As a follower of God, I want to finish well. I want to be at my most faithful and my most humble in my relationships with God as I get older.
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