Bottom line up front: The peril of half-hearted obedience

Text: ⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. ⁸ Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless  toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. ¹¹ The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.  (2 Chr 16:7-12)

Teaching: Until that time, Asa had been a solid leader. He had purged many of the idols from Israel. He had helped turn the people back to Yahweh. But he grew unwise in time. He grew comfortable. He trusted those he shouldn’t have. The king of Syria is just one example of untrustworthy people here. And the prophet Hanani, the truth-teller, rebuked Asa for his shortsightedness, lack of faith in God, and sin. And what’s worse, rather than owning up to his own half-hearted obedience, Asa “inflicted cruelties” upon other people. That’s key, folks. We sinners love to deflect; we love to project our own issues and sins onto others rather than owning our sins and having God rebuke us via truth-tellers like Hanani in this passage or God the Holy Spirit.

Encouragement: Asa began well but ended poorly. We need to learn from his example. Were we half as concerned with our standing before God as we are with comfort, how might that change our spiritual trajectory and witness before God and men?