Tuesday, March 15: 2Chronicles 15- rewards from God.

There is so much worthy of meditation in the first paragraph in the word from the Lord to Asa, that I found myself dwelling on that portion of the text today.

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded" (1-7).

Here are a couple of the thoughts that tickled my mind. To start, God is speaking with His covenant people… to those who He has already called into relationship. God promises to be found when they seek Him. Additionally, He says He will forsake them if they forsake Him. Now in my meditations I settled on the positive side of that equation. God says that He will be found if we seek Him. Even after a season of disappointment and sin, God promises that if we turn to Him and seek Him we will find Him. That gives me so much comfort. I am not perfect, I sin and screw up, but God won’t toss me to the trash pile.  Like the prodigal son, God is looking for me to come home every day, and when He sees me, even when I am still far away, God comes running to me! O, the depth and the love of God for those in His family.

I paused and soaked in this promise for a while before I moved on…

My second stop was verse 7, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. God rewards faithfulness!  That is a motivator for me. Rewards motivate me and most people, and God knows that. Asa’s reward was 35-years of peace. I don’t know what or how God will reward me, but faithfulness has godly rewards… closeness with the Lord, positive things this side of eternity and eternal communion with the Lord in the life to come. When faithfulness and doing what God would want me to do is difficult, I push through partly because I know God will reward me somehow and I like rewards. God knows this and He set it up this way to give me a jump start toward faithfulness…

Think about it!

God, reading Your word this morning is my start to seeking You today. Find me and show me what You would have me do. To be faithful to You, that is my goal and my hope for today… In Jesus’ name and for the sake of His kingdom, I pray… Amen.