“Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there” (2 Chronicles 25:27).
TEXT — 2 Chronicles 25:17-27
Message
Oswald Chambers, the famed Scottish evangelical teacher and minister, had this to say about engaging with God: “Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless, in the first waking moment of the day, you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day. But swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.”
Amaziah, king of Judah, found himself walking on the wrong level as soon as he forsook the Lord and embraced idol worship. As a punishment for his sin and headiness, God allowed him to dabble into ill ventures which caused his ruin. For instance, having shunned a prophet of God, he heeded the advice of his flattering counsellors to revenge the injury done to his people by the army of Israel. Even the friendly response of Joash the king of Israel to Amaziah’s challenge for war could not restrain him. He went willy-nilly into the war and was utterly disgraced. He was eventually killed by his own guards at Lachish where he had fled, following a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem.
Amaziah’s case reminds us of what happens when a person forsakes God. It was an illustration of the scriptural verdict: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans 1:28). It always amounts to self-destruction when someone hardens his heart against God. Such attitude disposes the person to harmful decisions and acts.
God is the source of our being and without Him, we are and can do nothing. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being…” (Acts 17:28). Backsliders and despisers of God may seem to be getting on with life without God’s presence and power, but they are lost and, except they repent, it is a matter of time before they run into danger and destruction.
Thought for the day
Those who turn away from God run into the open arms of disaster.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
This daily manna is really inspiring.