Jotham's strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God.
2Chronicles 27:6 (The Message)
My reading today went through the lives of several kings. I was glad that most of them lived godly lives, well, at least for a while:
Amaziah: (AMP)2Chronicles 25:2 He did right in the Lord’s sight, but not with a perfect or blameless heart.
Uzziah: (AMP)2Chronicles 26: 4 He did right in the Lord’s sight, to the extent of all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper....16 But when [King Uzziah] was strong, he became proud to his destruction; and he trespassed against the Lord his God, for he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Jotham: (AMP)2Chronicles 27: 2 He did right in the sight of the Lord, to the extent of all that his father Uzziah had done...6 So Jotham grew mighty, for he ordered his ways in the sight of the Lord his God.
Ahaz: (AMP)2Chronicles 28: He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father [forefather]. 2 But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made molten images for the Baals.
Again, we read that when obedience to God is modified in any way, destruction follows and we lose out on God's blessings. And when fame and fortune goes to our head, and we stop seeking God, our past obedience does not 'cover' our present transgression. Destruction, loss of God's favour results.
I thank God for the "Jothams" in our culture. I pray for more young people to have a strength rooted in his [their] steady and determined life [lives] of obedience to God.
I pray this for my sons.
A life of dependence on God slowly builds as God allows our dependence on our own strength to disintegrate. It is painful but joy in the Lord displaces that pain and becomes our strength.
Sing with me that oldie: I Need Thee Every Hour, because we do.
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