2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. [NIV]
Fully committed.
The king of Judah started well. Asa removed all the pagan idols from the land and repaired the altar of the Lord. He even deposed his grandmother as the queen because of her worship of Asherah. He led his people to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. For 34 years Judah enjoyed peace and prosperity because Asa “fully committed” himself to the Lord (2 Chron. 15).
Then something happened that changed everything.
The king of Israel threatened Judah, but rather than relying on the Lord, Asa evidently dismissed God’s former faithfulness and turned to a foreign king for help. When a prophet confronted him about it, Asa became so enraged that he threw the man in prison and not only that, he started oppressing his people. It didn’t end there. For the last two years of his reign, Asa was afflicted with a severe foot disease. But did he turn to God for help? Nope. He sought help only from physicians (2 Chron 16:12). Funny how once we stop relying on God, things go from bad to worse.
We go from bad to worse.
CS Lewis writes about the danger of self-sufficiency. He says the tendency to claim some area of our life as “our own,” independent from God, must be resisted daily. He says every night the draw to self-reliance “grows back over [us] like a new shell.”
Fellow followers of Christ, do you know he calls us to always depend on him? We will never arrive at a place in life where we don’t need him. Whether tempted by success or throwing in the towel due to regret, he expects us to remain fully committed to him, to his call.
Fully committed.
Let’s not allow what happened to Asa happen to us. Or sadly, to many who started well but have lost their way. When the Lord’s eyes scan the earth to find those with fully committed hearts, may he say, “There’s one!” “There’s another one!” when he sees you and me.
Let’s remain fully committed to God so that in years to come, no one will wonder what happened to our once fervent devotion.