June 3

2 Lessons from the Life of King Asa

In the history of Israel we now begin to see the difference faith makes. There will be 19 kings in the northern kingdom of Israel and none of them will have faith, none of them will be considered good kings. There will be 20 kings in the southern kingdom and 8 of them will be faithful men. Asa is one of the good guys but even he did not finish well in his faith journey.

Some lessons:

1. A good start doesn’t guarantee a good finish. We must work at keeping our relationship with God fresh and vibrant. This could be a problem for any of us. My unofficial guess is that 80% of Christians do not finish the race well. There are very few older Christians who have a passion for the Lord late in life. It is fantastic to have you committed to reading through the Bible this year but even Bible reading can become perfunctory and stale. If our Bible reading doesn’t originate from love and gratitude it will slip into an attitude of duty and routine. Guard against this.

2. When Asa came down with his foot problem later in life it is a test to see where his faith lies. 2 Chron 16:12 says Asa sought help from his physicians but not from the Lord. The Bible never speaks badly of physicians. Even the apostle Paul took Dr. Luke on his journeys, but there is a huge difference between a physician and going to THE PHYSICIAN. To pray for God for healing should be the first step any believer takes when physically ill. It is amazing how many people of faith like Asa minimize the power of God to work directly in the healing process. There are certainly safeguards we need to have from some of the phony “faith healers” of today, but healing by faith is never a sham.

2 Chron. 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Prayer: Lord, our hearts are fully committed to you today. Our lives and our health are in your hands. We humbly ask that you would bring healing to the various diseases we suffer from. We trust in you and your mighty healing power. In Jesus Name, Amen.