2 Chronicles 15 & 16: Seek The LORD
Verse of the Day: (15:12) And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

1. Be Strong (15:1-7)
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. (15:7)

God’s Spirit came to Azariah to encourage King Asa of Judah to be strong in Him, and to seek Him so that His blessings shall be upon him and Judah and their work. However, God shall judge and chastise them if they would rebelled against Him. For a long time both Israel and Judah refused to seek God, but instead they worshipped the idols that they had made for themselves. Indeed, let us only seek and worship God, and be strong and sufficient in His grace, otherwise His judgment shall be upon us. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

2. Be Seeking (15:8-19)
That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man of woman. (15:13)

Asa covenanted with his people to seek the Lord with all their hearts and souls, and those who refused shall be put to death. He then put away all the idols and sacrificed 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep before God and renewed His altar. Indeed, let us seek and set our hearts upon God and His Word and He shall grant us the desires of our hearts. (Colossians 3:1-3)

3. Be Submissive (16:1-14)
Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (16:10)

It is not just how well we start our Christian race, but also how well we finish it. Sadly in Asa’s latter years, he failed God as he built alliance with King Ben-hadad of Syria by giving him treasures from God’s and his house instead of trusting in God. When King Baasha of Israel began to build Ramah before Judah to besiege it, Asa called upon Ben-hadad who then attacked and stopped Israel from the construction of Ramah. However, God was displeased with Asa, and He sent His seer, Hanani, to rebuke him for trusting Ben-hadad instead of Him as He had time again delivered Judah from her enemies, the likes of the Ethiopians and the Lubims. Instead of accepting Hanani’s rebuke, Asa threw him into prison, and at the same time oppressed his people. God chastised Asa, and his feet were diseased. However, Asa still stubbornly refused to turn to God but relied on his physicians even until his death. Asa’s life was a tragic story of a godly leader who in his later years suffered much because he rebelled against God. Indeed, let us submit to God, as no matter how well prepared we are, He is in control of everything. (Proverbs 21:31)

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to seek You first, and fully submit to You in everything.