Tuesday, March 21st, 2023

Is it possible to serve the Lord, but still miss the mark? Yes. Look to 2 Chronicles 25, the story of King Amaziah of Judah. In this time, Israel had split into two kingdoms, Israel (north) and Judah (south). Amaziah had come to power in Judah and was for the most part following the Law of Moses, contrary to what many of his predecessors had done. This should please the Lord, right? Yes, but not quite. 2 Chronicles 25:2 says, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.” King Amaziah followed the Law, but refused counsel by prophets of the Lord, was overly concerned with money (2 Chr. 25:9), and worst, after defeating the Edomites, sacrificed to their gods upon his victory. Soon after King Amaziah’s death, God raised up the prophet Isaiah who called Judah to repent of their empty following of the Law and return to true worship, foreshadowing the coming of Christ. It is no wonder that Isaiah is so heavily quoted in the New Testament and by Jesus when we understand the time that Isaiah prophesied in! Jesus said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” We see what that means here: when we serve the Lord with an imperfect heart, as King Amaziah, we follow God’s Word to the letter but not what it truly means, in spirit and truth. When we do this, our judgement is muddied because we cannot grasp God’s intent and our motives are unprioritized. We have a hard time distinguishing between whether we do the things we do for ourselves, our own provision, our own glory or for the Lord’s. We second-guess and even refuse sound counsel in pursuit of the things we want for ourselves at the expense of a strong testimony to the Lord, just as King Amaziah did. Today, spend time in prayer seeking the Lord and considering how your own heart shows by the things you do.

“And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.” – 2 Chronicles 25:2

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” – John 4:24