Friday, March 11: 2Chronicles 12- Reheboam's failure

It didn’t take long to discover the answer to the 3-year comment I noticed yesterday. Chapter 12 opens with God’s judgment. Only 5 years into Reheboam’s reign, these are the words the Chronicler uses to describe the state of affairs. After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD. Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (1-2).

The telling words in the text for me are these:  After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD. Over and over in scripture and in life I see that played out. When we become strong, (self-sufficient, comfortable in life, and the like) we leave the Lord. It is as if we believe “Oh, I have no more need for the Lord.” We forget that it was God in the first place who gave us the strength, wisdom, whatever it was, to grow to our point of strength. We become fooled into thinking that WE DID IT…

Sadly Reheboam succumbed to this.  As I muse, the Spirit’s nudge to me is, “Do I as well? Do I fall prey to comfort and success, and loose my vigilance in serving, honoring and following the Lord? Do I?”

My ‘ponder and meditate’ points today are to consider my strengths and successes and ask myself, “Am I relying on them more than I am relying on the Lord’? Am I?” Because if I am, I am taking steps towards Reheboam’s failure…

How about you?

Lord, walk with me today as I consider those areas of strength and success in my life. Thank You for them and yet, at the same time, Lord, I pray that You do not allow me to rest on them, to believe they are MY strengths –as if I own them.  Also, do not allow me to forget that You are the giver of every good gift and You are the source of my life and my strength and my everything. Keep me near You, I pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.