2 Chronicles 15:1-19

The Lord loves to give His children rewards.  He especially loves to reward those who seek Him and obey Him.  God loves for the longing of our heart to be for Him.  He desires that we desire Him.  He is constantly giving incentives for us to obey Him and walk according to the teaching of His Word.  Asa and the people who lived in Judah during His reign got to experience first-hand the tremendous blessings of following after the Lord and seeking to please Him.  They had peace from their enemies and they experienced the true and lasting joy that can only come from God.  It is an exercise in futility to seek for joy and fulfillment in life apart from God.  He alone, is the source of true contentment because we were made by Him and we were mad for Him.

ASA RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD: The Prophet of God came to king Asa and told him that the Lord would bless him greatly, give him victory of over his enemies and a prosperous reign if he would seek the Lord and love the Lord with his whole heart.  The kings before Asa knew these same promises but they did not receive them in the way that Asa did.  He was motivated by his knowledge of the Lord to obey what he had heard and to go after the promises revealed by the prophet.  Asa had faith in the Word of God and desired to experience the blessings that the Lord had promised in His Word as spoken by the prophet.  We need to take the Word of God seriously and not ignore the wonderful truths that it reveals.

ASA RESPONDED TO THE WILL OF GOD: It is one thing to know God’s Word but it is a completely different thing to do God’s will.  The response in Asa’s heart to the Word of God was a complete dedication to accomplishing the will of God in order to receive the reward that he had been promised by God.  Not only did he destroy the idols of the nation but he also repaired the altar of the Lord and restored the sacrifices to the Lord in the temple.  Asa and his men had just returned from a very successful battle.  God wanted to make sure that this victory did not cause Asa to become proud and distract him from the purpose of pleasing the Lord.  Asa responded by sacrificing the plunder from the military conquests to the Lord.


ASA REJOICED IN THE WORK OF GOD: Asa responded to the Lord correctly and the Lord was faithful to reward Asa according to his promise.  The land had rest from its enemies and they were once again able to begin prospering in the land.  Their success was so great that the God fearing people from the ten tribes of Israel began to defect and return to live under the reign of Asa.  He did not spare the idol of his grandmother and the Lord did not spare any blessings that were showered down upon Asa and his people.  There was great rejoicing in the land.  God loves to reward His children and we will experience true joy if we will truly seek the Lord and obey Him in our lives.  Even in the midst of difficult circumstances; the Lord can bring abiding joy into our lives. 

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