Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years...He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. -II Chronicles 27:1, 2
Being faithful to the Lord will involve making decisions based upon what God has said and not based upon what seems right. So often we find that what seems right goes way against what God has said in His Word. I’ll cheat on my taxes, tell a few lies, I’ll take this even though it doesn’t belong to me. All of those situations, even though we all know they would be wrong, might seem okay at the time. And we might even be able to convince ourselves that it's all right – as long as no one knows and as long as I don’t get caught. When our hearts are inclined to the wisdom of God we will be able to step back, take another look, and make the decision that being faithful to God is always the right course - all of the time and no matter what. Proverbs 2:12 says, “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse.”
The Bible says that Jotham was only 25 years old when he became king, but he was a good king over God’s people the Israelites. He started out his reign in a positive way in that he sought to be faithful to the Lord and he inclined his heart to wisdom. Jotham set out to not make some of the same mistakes of those who were before him. For instance, his father, Uzziah, had made a critical mistake of going into the temple of the Lord and burning incense, something that only the priests were permitted to do. As a result the wrath of God came upon Uzziah and he was stricken with leprosy for the rest of his life (II Chronicles 26:16-21). The Scripture says that unlike his father, Jotham did not enter into the temple of the Lord and do as he had done. He did not want to make that same mistake.
Jotham was not able to do all that he would have hoped, for the Scripture says that even though he was a good king who did what right in the eyes of the Lord, the people still engaged in corruptible practices. That doesn’t mean all of them; no doubt many followed the king’s example, but unfortunately some of the people still followed after idols and ungodly ways.
As for us, we can go out into the community, knock on doors, beat the bushes, and witness to everyone in the area – and we should for Jesus commanded us to. But will everyone in our community come to faith in Christ? Unfortunately, no; but some will - enough to fill our churches ten times over. It was the same in Jotham’s day; some got their hearts right with God, but some continued to practice ungodly ways. When we incline our hearts to godly wisdom we understand that we are to be faithful and we then leave the results with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment