2 Chronicle 15:1-19
Spiritual revival takes courage and planning.
It takes courage to live out any virtue. This principle also applies to Christians. Some new Christians pray in light-speed at meal time to avoid family or friends’ embarrassment. On the contrary, I also see new Christians take courage to tell others about Jesus at their home, school, workplace, street…, etc.
King Asa took courage to remove idols and high places (though he did not totally remove high places). He even took radical decision to dispose his grandmother as queen mother because she had a repulsive Asherah pole.
He also put to death those who did not seek after God, as we see verse 13. Christians need to take courage and make radical decisions to get rid of bad habits and sins in order to walk closely with God.
Where does King Asa’s courage come from? In verse 8, when Asa heard these words along with the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. King Asa had the prophet Azariah to instruct and encourage him.
Have you said anything lately to encourage someone? It may be your spouse or your children who need your word of encouragement.
Asa’s spiritual revival not just influenced his people in the southern kingdom (Judah and Benjamin), but also the people from the northern kingdom such as Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon. They came over to settle in the southern kingdom because they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
God was with Asa because he sought after him. The phrase ‘sought him’ (God) and ‘he was found by him’ appears three times in chapter 15 (verse 2, 4 and 15). When Asa sought after God, God was with him.
What did Asa do to seek after God? He removed idols, repaired the altar, brought sacrifices to worship God, and made covenant to seek after God, (he also put to death for those who did not seek after God) and took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and trumpets and horns. (Jewish people usually blew trumpets and horns in a time of celebration.)
How do we apply those principles today? Remove sins and bad habits, take care of Church property and business like our own, bring our tithes and offerings as an act of worship, develop an objective plan to pray and study the word of God, or even make radical decisions to get rid of anything hindering your spiritual growth.
Finally, our seriousness of relationship with God becomes a source of joy for believer that leads to joyful celebration. —- Alan Yam
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